The One
by HandsyMalone
Summary: Bella has been in vampire free Forks for just over a year and has found a way to survive small town life. What happens when the vampires return? Mostly canon pairings, patience is a virtue, one OC. AU story
1. That Waits

A/N: I've not done this before, writing the fanfic and actually posting it. I've written before, lots before though I'm not sure that it shows ;-) There's a point to this, I promise. This will be written in various POVs, indicated by the name in bold in the middle of the writing. I know you're smart enough to know that, but I also know how it is first thing in the morning or late at night. Thanks for reading, I appreciate you taking the time to say what you think. **HM**

_Copyright information: I don't own these characters, not by a long shot. They're the property of Stephanie Meyer and anyone she's sold the rights to. I mean no harm, just what my brain decided would be if things had gone differently._

**Bella**

Bella sat near her window where she'd pulled my chair and stared out at the rain. It was always the same here in Forks, the same seemingly never-ending rain. Some days it poured down like you were standing in an enormous shower, other days, like today, it was a mere drizzle. She could tell by the lighter shade of grey that the sky had taken on that it was morning. '_Another morning here in Forks_,' she thought to herself, '_Another day to try to live through_.' She sighed, and pushed herself up from the seat of the old rocker. There was something wrong and she couldn't tell what it was for the life of her.

As she stood in the shower, she tried to let the pounding hot water soothe away whatever this feeling was. She deeply inhaled the scent of my shampoo, trying to let the familiar strawberry comfort her. And as usual, it failed. She felt her shoulders droop and she finished her shower, now wanting to be on to the next part of the torture that was to be her day. It was Saturday, so she didn't even have the dubious 'pleasure' of school to look forward to, though Charlie was out fishing again, so she didn't have to deal with his clumsy yet well intentioned attempts to get her involved in life here in Forks.

Breakfast was a bowl of cereal, and once she'd washed my dishes, she stood in the kitchen and tried to figure out what to do with herself. She'd been in Forks for almost a year and she was still struggling with activities. True to her nature, she'd not really made many friends in school, though she did care for Angela a lot. However, Angela was out of town with her family, so she couldn't even pathetically use her to get through another day.

The last conversation she'd had with her mother had been filled of the promises of a house that she could call home in Jacksonville, but she'd told Renee that she couldn't leave. Renee had asked why and Bella had answered her honestly; she had no earthly idea, she just knew that she couldn't leave here, there was something here, something that she just wasn't seeing, some reason for the Universe to want her to stay here, some reason to subject herself to the torture of small town life. Renee was surprised, but not as much as she had been the first time they'd had this conversation. At least this time, she'd not argued with Bella, merely sighed heavily and said, "Well, baby, when you figure it out, let your mom know. We're worried about you. And there's a room here with your name on it when you're ready." Bella had nodded, despite knowing that she couldn't see her, and then begged off the phone with some relatively flimsy excuse of school work. Bella had good grades; as good as they'd ever been, and yet that was my ever-present excuse, school work. She got a lot of miles out of it, using it on Renee, Charlie, Mike, Tyler, even Angela; all of the people she knew heard it in one form or another on a regular basis.

The sound of the phone ringing jolted her out of my melancholy reverie and Bella stared at it like was an alien thing for a moment before realizing that she needed to answer it.

"Hello?" Bella said hesitantly.

"Bella?" the voice on the other end said. "It's Billy, I was looking for your father, is he in?"

She smiled, despite her mood; she liked Billy something about him made her feel at ease. "No, Billy, he's out fishing again. Can I take a message?"

She heard Billy's booming laugh, could picture him sitting in his wheelchair. "Well, I 'm not surprised, that's for sure. It's a good thing fish is good for you, or your dad would be one sick puppy."

Bella heard her own laugh and was surprised by the sound of it. "That is true, Billy, that is true."

Billy was still chuckling and he said, "Well, just because he's not home, doesn't mean you can't come down. We're having a party today, celebrating…"

He trailed off for a moment, and then started laughing even harder. "Well, nothing really, though I guess you could say we're celebrating it being a Saturday. You should come down."

Bella opened her mouth to give her standard answer then stopped. Why not? She'd not seen Billy in a while and Jake in even longer. The last time Billy had been up for a game, Jake had stayed home working on school work. At first, she'd taken it for an excuse, as her similar statement was, but later had overheard Billy telling Charlie that Jake's grades weren't up to par. She wrinkled my forehead for a split second while she went through all of this in her mind. Still, it was a shock to hear her voice saying, "You know what, Billy that sounds like a good plan to me. What time should I come down? Do you want me to bring anything?"

He laughed again, and she could almost see his shoulders shaking, "Nope, Bella, just your pretty face will be enough. Come up now if you'd like."

Bella blushed to the roots of her hair and tried to stammer out an answer, but he'd already hung up. For a moment, she just stood there, the dial tone ringing in her ear. 'What had I gotten myself into?' she thought


	2. That Finally Sees

A/N: I wrote both chapters back to back, so I figured I'd share them with you the same way. **HM**

_Copyright information: These characters aren't mine, they belong to Stephanie Meyer, who's nice enough to let us play with her toys, as long as we give them back in one piece. _

**Bella**

Not wanting to appear too eager, or like the socially awkward pariah she knew she was, Bella took her time getting ready, choosing her favorite pair of jeans then taking an uncharacteristically long time choosing a shirt. She decided to brush my hair out, which took a long time since it did not seem to want to comply with her plan of smoothness. The humidity was still not her best friend. Finally, she was out of reasons to dawdle, having decided that makeup was too much. It was, after all, a party at the Black house, not the prom. Just the thought of the prom made her shudder. If she could avoid that disaster waiting to happen for the rest of her natural born life, she'd be a happy camper.

The truck fired up with only minimal protest and minimal coaxing on Bella's behalf. Shaking her head, she started the drive to the reservation. Normally, The Beast was, well, a beast to get started, particularly in the morning. She wasn't sure what to make of that, but decided not to think too much of it, or read anything into it. It could just be that The Beast was having a good day.

The drive to La Push was not a long one, even given the geriatric speed that she was forced to drive. The Beast wasn't as young as he used to be and had been known to turn off if she tried to make him go over fifty. Pulling into the Black's driveway, she saw that she wasn't the first one there and immediately felt better about herself. No one likes to hang out with someone who's desperate. The front door opened and Jake stepped out, waving to her with a huge grin on his face. Good grief, when had he gotten so huge? His smile was contagious though and she quickly got out of the truck and headed towards him. Well, that was what she had in mind anyway. Halfway across the yard her toe stuck on something and she fell, barely keeping her face out of the dirt. 'Seriously?' she thought to herself, 'Cool, Bell, real damn cool.'

An arm slipped under her middle and lifted her easily off the ground and she felt another blush burn its way across her face. "Wow, Bella," Jake said from a good number of inches above her, "That was pretty damn graceful, even for you. It's nice to see that some things will always stay the same."

Gritting her teeth, she said, "Thanks, _Jacob_. Now please put me down."

There was a laugh from the porch and she looked from under her hair to see that there were easily seven people on the covered porch. 'Great' she thought, her blush deepening, 'The entire reservation has now seen me look like a clumsy idiot. Super-freakin'-duper.'

Jake seemed oblivious to her embarrassment and said, laughingly, "Not on your life, Bells. I want to be sure you're safe first." Then he proceeded to _carry_ her all the way to the porch where he set her down on the steps with a huge grin. Ugh, would the indignities never end? She looked up at him to chew him a new one when she realized that she had to look _up_, way up, to get a good view of his face. By no standards was she considered tall, unless among pygmies counted, but he was even more massive than she had first thought. Furrowing her brow, she said, "What are they feeding you, Jake, you're enormous!"

Everyone on the porch laughed at that, and she realized that in addition to Billy, there were several people on the porch that she didn't know, which embarrassed her even more. She opened her mouth to stammer something quasi-intelligible when Billy saved her. "Don't worry, Bella, that hole's a real ankle breaker. I keep trying to get that big lump to fill it, but he always seems to forget."

She smiled at him, thankful for the save and said, "Well, now I'll get on him about it, too."

Jake groaned, "Alright, alright, I'll get the shovel and fill it now, will that satisfy the two of you?"

Billy laughed, "Yep, sure will. Bella, I don't think you've met anyone yet, my _son_ seems to have forgotten his manners. You might remember some of them, but I'll remind you of their names just in case. These are Mr. and Mrs. Clearwater, their daughter Leah, their son Seth, Quil, Embry, and Sam over there on the end."

She nodded to each of them in turn and was about to say something when Jake tugged on her hand, "C'mon, you're the reason I've got to fill that stupid thing; the least you can do is keep me company."

Shaking her head, she said, "Nice to meet all of you, I've got to go babysit now."

They laughed again and someone, Leah she thought, said, "Ooh, Jake, babysit? That's gotta sting your fragile male ego."

He laughed it off, "Not really, at least she's paying attention to me."

The ever present blush reappeared as he dragged her off the porch towards the shed. Halfway there, she tried to pull her hand out of his grip, but failed. With a quiet resigned sigh, she walked next to him. "Seriously, Jake, have you been into the Miracle Grow or something? I know I've not seen you in a while, but this has got to be close to a new world record for growth spurts."

He laughed easily and she felt something in her chest flutter. "Nope, just clean air and all the food I can put away."

They reached the shed and he let go of her hand for a moment to open the door and grab the shovel. Once he had the door shut, he took it again and it felt easy, disturbingly easy if she examined it too closely, which she wisely chose not to. He looked down at her and smiled, "It has been a while, hasn't it? Like three months at least."

She nodded, "Yeah, at least. What have you been up to, besides growing like a weed?"

He shrugged, "The same really, hanging out with the boys, school, that sort of thing."

Another huge grin crossed his face when they reached the hole and he started filling it. "I got an email the other day from one of my best friends. They moved away just before you got here, but he said that they're thinking of coming back soon."

"Moved away?" she asked, confused, "I didn't know that people moved off the reservation often."

He laughed, throwing dirt into the hole and packing it down, "Not on the reservation, silly girl, in town. I do know people that don't live here on the res, you know."

Now she felt like a moron. "Oh…oh. Well, you've got to be glad that he'll be moving back, right?"

He shrugged, with another easy laugh, "Sure, sure. We were really close friends, at least, once my dad and his dad had a talk. Before that," he shrugged again, patting the last of the flat, "Sometimes my dad can be a bit strange, he was really mad that we'd become friends. But after he talked to the Doctor and your Dad, he was alright with it."

Now she was really confused, "The Doctor?" she asked, "Why did Billy need a Doctor? And what does Charlie have to do with anything?"

Jake laughed, reached out and took her hand again, leading her back to the shed, "He didn't need a doctor, my friend's dad is the Doctor. And Charlie really likes him, the Doctor I mean, so that went a long way. It took a few poker nights at your house, plus a few visits to the Doctor's house before my dad chilled out."

They'd reached the shed and instead of putting the shovel inside, he leaned it on the outside and turned to her, "Want to take a walk? They just started making food and haven't gotten the grill hot enough yet, so it'll be a while before we eat."

She nodded, "Sure, a walk would be great."

He led her into the forest, following an old path that was barely visible to her eye. Luckily, it seemed that Jake knew where he was going and she was, surprisingly, content to follow his lead. They walked in silence for a few minutes and even her hazy sense of direction told her that they were heading towards the beach.

Jake looked over at her and said, "Did I tell you how glad I am to see you today?"

She blushed, ducking her head so that her hair hid her face for a moment. "No, but you just did. Thanks. I'm really starting to be glad that I came. I've not really been out lately."

Did she just say that out loud? Thank goodness it was just Jake, he'd known her for too long to be put off by her inability to keep her inner monologue where it belonged, on the _inside_. He laughed, the sound ringing through the trees, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Then I am really glad that you chose today to break your pattern."

They broke through the trees and it seemed that the whole of the Pacific lay before them, the sun breaking through the clouds for a moment to paint the tips of the waves in liquid gold before disappearing again. She smiled up at him. "This is one thing you can't get in Arizona. It is amazing."

He looked down, "Yeah, it sure is. Breath-taking actually."

It was silent for a moment before she looked up at him and realized that he was certainly not talking about the ocean. She blushed again and looked down at her feet, unsure of what to say. He laughed and tugged her down a path that would lead them eventually to the beach. "The people in town must be blind, I would've thought that by now you'd be used to compliments."

She was saved from having to say something by tripping over a root. For a split second, she thanked her genetics for her clumsy nature, but that thought died when Jake reached out and caught her, pulling her to his chest. Her senses were assaulted by him, the way he smelled, the feel of him where they were pressed together and the surprising heat that radiated off of him. It made it impossible for her to think, let alone speak, so she just stood there. He was very close to her and she felt her heart skip a beat in response. She was starting to get uncomfortable and tried to get free, with no success at all. So she just looked up at him. Wow, a little voice in the back of her head said, he's got really nice skin…and very nice eyes, the kind you could stare into for hours... Suddenly, she was a little dizzy. He chuckled and set her on her feet. "Lucky for you, I'm here to save you, huh?"

She nodded mutely, shaken by her reaction to him. It was Jake, for crying out loud! Her oldest friend here in Forks, the one she'd made mud-pies with as a kid, the ever present good natured boy from her sporadic childhood visits here, Billy's boy who came over from time to time to check on the truck. Jake. Not someone that should be making her feel like this…like, well, like a teenager in the throes of hormones.

He gave her hand a squeeze and pulled her into motion, leading her down the path again, chatting good-naturedly about his school, his friends, his father's latest exploits and she obviously made the right responses, he didn't notice that she was a million miles away. What was up with her brain today? If her body wanted her to be interested in someone, why him? Why not, say, Mike? She suppressed a shudder at the thought. He was a little too polished, a little too slick for her blood. Was this what she'd been looking for? Was this why she'd had the pull to stay here in her own personal hell? Jake? Seriously? She continued in that vein, arguing with herself about his merits until they reached the split that wound down the cliff face. He turned to her and said, "Be careful now, Bells, this part is steep."

Her traitorous heart thudded again when he called her what her mom and dad called her. Once he'd turned to start down, she frowned and shook her head. Had she lost her mind? Bumped her head harder than she'd thought on one of her many spills? Wait…what if his attention was nothing but friendly? Ugh, why had she not thought of that before? There was no way he was interested in her, there were plenty of pretty girls here, of that she was sure. They all had the same golden brown skin that Jake had, the same thick black hair that begged to have fingers in it, the same eyes. She frowned harder, shaking her head, glad that he couldn't see her. This was no good, now she was jealous of some nebulous female that may or may not exist, jealous that Jake might have eyes for someone. What was wrong with her?

She was so caught up in her internal debate that, she didn't see him stop until she collided with his back. "Sorry, Jake," she said breathlessly, "I didn't see you stop."

He smiled at her, chuckling. "That much was apparent, lucky for me I'm made of stronger stuff than you can knock down with your little feather weight."

She blushed, but not so deep this time, and stepped around him, determined to be cool. Or at least what passed for cool in Bella world. The beach spilled out before them all the way to where the waves were crashing. Smiling, she said, "I really do love this view. Despite the cold."

At her words, the wind gusted around them, making her glad she'd grabbed that jacket out of The Beast. They started walking, side by side but not touching, her carefully picking her way over the rocks, him watching her while she was distracted. After a few minutes, he asked, "I feel like I've been doing all the talking, how are things up your way?'

She shrugged, "Pretty alright, I suppose. Charlie's the same old Charlie. School's the same old grind. My mom is trying to convince me to leave all this and run away to Jacksonville."

Jake stopped walking for a moment. "Leave? Really?" His face showed some emotion that she couldn't identify immediately. It was moments like this that she wished she was better with people or at least better with emotions. But she truly was her father's daughter, and the year of living here had only honed that. She didn't say anything for a moment, waiting for him to speak again.

He started walking again, almost too fast for her to be able to keep up. He still wasn't speaking, so she chose the Charlie path, and let him work it out in silence. They reached a fallen tree and he stopped. The tree appeared to have maybe journeyed from somewhere else through the sea, it was bleached white as only driftwood can be, but it still had its roots and branches, though she had no clue which end was which so she designated the end they were at the 'top'. She was going to sit on one of the lower branches when he reached out and picked her up as easily as if she weighed no more than a leaf, and set her on one of the higher ones. Not so high that she couldn't get down, but high enough that when he sat, they were eye to eye. Still, he didn't speak, instead chewing his lower lip with that same look on his face, his hands tight on the branch that he sat on. She was very confused and really wanted to know what he was thinking, but it was contrary to her nature to ask, so she lightly swung her feet and watched the ocean continue its endless assault on the shore.

After what might have been fifteen minutes, he cleared his throat and said, "Don't go. Please."

She'd forgotten what they'd been talking about, so she just looked at him for a long minute, completely lost. "Pardon?" she asked.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn it, Bella! Don't go, don't move to Jacksonville. I know I've got no right to ask you but, still."

Bella furrowed her brow for a moment, "You don't want me to move, Jake?"

Jake snorted in frustration, "No, Bella, I don't want you to move."

Tipping her head to the side, she said the first thing that popped to mind. "Why?"

He looked away, staring at the ocean, "I just don't, Bella. I want you to stay."

She was going to say something when he turned back to her and leaned in, suddenly very close. "I can try to give you a reason to stay if you'd like."

Her mouth dried out instantly and the buzzing sensation returned to the inside of her head. "Oh-oh really?" she said quietly and rather stupidly in her opinion.

Jake chuckled and reached up to tuck an errant piece of her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her cheek. She was hardly aware of it, but she leaned slightly into his touch, his skin was calloused from working on his car, he was so very warm and she was always so very cold. The moment stretched out into an eternity as she watched him weigh something in his eyes, then he leaned in and lightly brushed his lips over hers. She gave a tiny gasp and her eyes slid closed of their own accord. He slipped his fingers into her hair, the light grip holding her completely still. Just as softly, he kissed her cheek, his lips barely touching her skin. She did not move, was not able to in fact, it seemed that his touch completely turned her brain off. Her mind was not prepared for the touch of his lips on her jaw, and her gasp was more audible this time and she found that her hand had found his shoulder and was pulling him closer. He moved to her neck, kissing her softly again, chuckling quietly when her fingers tightened on his shoulder. Some part of her brain was trying very hard to have something coherent to say, or at least think when Jake made a quiet noise and suddenly his mouth was on hers again, the tenderness was still there, but it quickly vanished as her lips instinctually parted. The last vestiges of her logic flew out the window as she pulled him closer. Time either stopped or stood still, she couldn't tell which it was and truthfully didn't care. A distant noise clamored for her attention but she refused to relinquish even the smallest part, she'd found something delightfully unexpected to focus on. That was why the voice startled her so bad.

"Woooo!" hooted Quil from about fifty feet away while Embry wolf-whistled and clapped.

She gasped and jumped back from Jake. Rather, she tried to; Jake refused to let her go, instead holding her where she was and kissing her mouth one more heart-stopping time before he let her go. He broke off a stick and hurled it cheerfully at his friends.

"Whatever you want, it better be good," he said with a grin, "Really damn good."

She blushed and dipped her head, her hair hiding her face from them. They just laughed and Quil said, "I thought it was a good reason at the time. Lunch is ready."

Jake looked at her, tucking her hair back behind her ears with a grin. "Good," he said, standing up and lifting her down from her perch. For a moment, he held her close to him and while the heat radiating from him was warming to the core, it made her shiver too. "I'm starved."

The boys howled in laughter and she resigned herself to staying this shade of red for the rest of the day.


	3. That Time Forgot

AN: I finished the next chapter, I'm pretty happy with it, I hope y'all are as well. Don't forget to review and if you don't like it, let me know why! We're all entitled to our opinion. Oh, since my beta was confused, there's a flashback in here ;)

**HM**

**Edward**

When one had both immortality and the inability to sleep, Edward thought while staring moodily out his bedroom window, one had nothing to do but think. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. That was not technically true, he admitted to himself, there were other 'pursuits' one could partake in. A crash and a giggle from Rosalie and Emmett's pointedly reminded him of some of those pursuits. Was he to blame for the fact that not a single soul, or lack thereof, had sparked his interest in ninety plus years? He didn't think so. Rosalie, that cow, did however. She loved nothing more than to harass him about his 'standards', grinding his nerves to the point that they often almost came to blows. While he had been raised with the rule that he should never strike a woman, he definitely thought that Rosalie had to be the exception that proved the rule.

He shook his head and pushed himself up from his desk, his eye watching his reflection. To a mortal eye, he guessed that his movement would have appeared fluid and graceful to the point of pain, but to his, he saw the mental effort it took, the pressure he was under. There was only one person he could talk to about it, but he didn't want to disturb her, she was busy in the same vein as Rose and Emmett. So instead of being the bachelor brother and bothering her, he wandered to the kitchen.

He passed Carlisle's study on his way, which he found empty. There was no noise from their room, but Esme wasn't in attendance either. This forced another sigh out of him, one that he hated himself for. Must he be so Victorian? It was bad enough to _be_ whom and what he was, but to be yet _another_ stereotype was almost too much to bear. He'd read a lot over the years and it seemed to be a common theme that men that would have been his contemporaries had Fate been more logical were either obnoxious philandering louts or limp-wristed fawning creatures with a predilection for drugs, alcohol and the dramatic. Was he becoming one of those?

His temper flared and he swatted a vase off a stand almost negligently, sending it flying through the room and taking out a cut crystal bowl. He made a face as he looked at the shards on the floor. The sight seemed familiar, though he'd never seen it before. He growled to himself and started to clean up his mess before Esme returned. As he picked up the pieces, he let his mind wander, trying to find the root of his irritation. For the last year, he'd been having issues with his 'ability', something that no one had seen before. It was so bad that he'd even consented to having Aro 'look him over' as it were. He grimaced, his hand tightening on the shards, crushing them into fine dust. That was an experience that he did not like to relive, so he did not allow himself to. Instead, he jumped to Aro's conclusion: There was something that had happened, would happen or should have happened that Edward's mind was grasping for and nothing but time and patience would figure out what.

Growling again, he stalked to the kitchen and threw away his mess. He was now so lost in thought, his mind trying to find the answer that he knew would elude him, seeming to slip through his mental fingers the harder he tried to grasp for it. What was he missing? When had this whole mess started? What was the trigger for his black mood? He snorted, picking up a pomegranate from the counter and tossing it up into the air as he paced. Esme loved the things, despite not being able to eat them. They amused her deeply for some reason she was unwilling to share.

Shaking his head, Edward reined his mind in, focusing back on the problem he'd been worrying a moment before. His distractibility was one more thing he hated about being a vampire, it was annoying at best. '_Right, old man'_ he told himself, '_Back on task._" Ah yes, there was the thought again. The cause of all of his mess. Carefully navigating his memory over the most recent visit from Aro, he took himself all the way back to the day Aro had appeared on the Cullen's proverbial doorstep over a year ago….

_The knock at the door had surprised all of them and they had all frozen in place for a moment, turning almost as one to look at Alice, who had her little brow furrowed in thought. She shook her head and said, "It's Aro. He came here as a side-trip and alone. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner."_

_Carlisle had given her arm a gentle squeeze as he'd passed by her. "No worries, love. We've nothing to fear from the Volturri."_

_She'd nodded, though her expression of concern hadn't changed one bit. Jasper crossed the distance to her in a flash even to Edward's eye, enfolding her in a hug that made Edward feel insanely jealous. Not __for__ Alice, but for the relationship, the closeness. He'd dismissed the thought, he'd made his peace with his bachelorhood for the most part, except for the occasionally 'relapse'._

_Carlisle was at the door, looking around the room, making sure all of them were ready for their unexpected guest. He must have been satisfied with what he saw in their faces; he nodded and opened the door, a smile on his face._

_Aro stood in the doorway, his white papery skin seeming to stand out even more against the backdrop of the intense green that was Forks. Instantly, a smile that was exactly like Carlisle's spread across his old face. _

"_Ah, Carlisle, old friend!" he exclaimed. "It has been too long! How is my favorite aberrant clan?"_

_Carlisle had laughed, and hugged Aro momentarily. "I'd like to think we're doing well, old friend. As crazy as it seems, we're happy in our aberrations."_

_Aro shook his head and gestured with his hand. "May I come in? I'll never understand how you manage it, Carlisle, but it seems to suit all of you."_

_Carlisle laughed, "I've forgotten my manners while blending in with humans, I apologize Aro. Of course you may come in."_

_He stepped aside and Aro floated into the room in the way that all Volturri seemed to move. "It is quite alright, old friend. I know I came unannounced."_

_His eyes found Alice where she stood in Jasper's embrace. "I did not want to upset your little seer, so I did what I could to keep my intentions a mystery."_

_Carlisle nodded, "Is this a social call or do you have a reason for stopping in, Aro?"_

_Aro looked at all of them in turn, his eyes lingering on Edward for a long moment before moving on to Rosalie and Emmett. In that moment, Edward had been certain that there was something behind those ancient eyes, but it was gone before he could grab on to it. Something about the downfall of the Volturri, he thought, but had he been asked to bet his own money on it, he would have refused. Aro finished his 'inspection' of the Cullen family and turned back to Carlisle._

"_A little of both, old friend, a little of both. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"_

_Carlisle nodded and led his friend upstairs to his study._

_As soon as they were out of sight, all eyes went back to Alice. She shrugged, "He wants to ask Carlisle to research something for him. Carlisle will accept and we'll move away until his research is done."_

_They had all sighed. Forks was a very nice town, one that they came back to whenever it was feasible, it was troublesome to have to leave now. Who knew how long they'd be gone? If they were gone too long, they wouldn't be able to come back again for another seventy years, and that made none of them happy. While it was true that he was the only one with a human friend, they all were happy here._

_Sure enough, an hour passed quickly and Aro and Carlisle had come back downstairs. Esme had visibly drawn up her courage, and a little bit of her training as a turn-of-the-last-century housewife and approached them._

"_Is there anything we can offer you, Aro?" she asked only the fluttering of her hands betraying her nerves. "I know you don't follow the same diet as we do, but we do have human blood in storage for when visitors come."_

_Aro had chuckled and reached out as if to touch her face, stopping just before he made actual contact. "Thank you, child, I appreciate the gesture. But I'm afraid I must rejoin my party before they miss me too much."_

_He continued down the stairs, stopping with his hand on the doorknob. "Thank you, Carlisle," he'd said quietly. "I appreciate you agreeing to not only do this but to keep it as much of a secret as you can."_

_They'd all turned to look at Carlisle, who had the grace to look uncomfortable. Aro opened the door, but stopped again, turning to look this time at Edward himself. "Young man," he said softly, with something in his voice that might have been pain, "When the time comes, remember that despite what it seems, nothing was done to make things worse, only to make them better."_

_Edward had been confused, but had kept his confusion to himself as Aro had walked out of the house, leaving them to make preparations for their move._

Pacing around this house, Edward snorted. Aro's comment still did not make sense, and Carlisle still would not tell any of them what he was researching for Aro. He'd taken to humming nursery rhymes that he'd translated into Mandarin in his head for the first hour after he'd left his laboratory to keep Edward out and keeping his intentions vague so that Alice couldn't see. At least, that was what she had told Edward, though he was not sure that he believed her.

A noise from behind him pulled him from his reverie. Glancing back, he saw Alice, leaning on the door frame with a small smile.

"You're miserable, Edward," she said quietly, almost skipping as she came to him, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

He snorted and tossed the lime back into the bowl. "Soon, Alice?" he asked, "By who's standards? You've been telling me that for almost a year."

She laughed her musical laugh and said, "Silly Edward, by the only standards that matter, mine."

He had to laugh at that. "Alright, little Time-Keeper, you win."

She turned to walk out of the kitchen, and just as she passed through the door, she looked back at him. "I'll throw you a bone, Edward," she said, a mischievous grin on her face, "Sooner than you're prepared for. Carlisle is almost done here; the last bit of his research needs to be finished in Forks. We're headed home in a few months."


	4. That Robs the Cradle?

AN: This hasn't been beta'd so if there are any errors, I apologize in advance. :-) Don't forget to let me know what you think!! Thanks

**HM**

**Bella**

Her life had settled into another routine, but this time Bella was far from complaining about it. Since the party in La Push, she had seen Jake almost every day. She had been nervous about it at first, wondering if he'd get sick of her since he saw her all the time. The first day that she'd pulled into the driveway and seen him sitting on the steps of her front porch she'd almost had a panic attack. However, the months that had passed had made her feel easy with the contact and the days that she didn't see him seemed to drag out before her like they were four times the normal length and oddly heavy.

Today was a day like so many others, a Friday and sunny to boot. There was an air of anticipation hanging over Forks High as it seemed that the clock conspired against all of them, crawling forward at an impossibly slow speed. Even Bella, who normally did not have an issue with the school day, felt antsy and distracted. Angela, who sat next to her in Chemistry, noticed the change, but was smart enough not to say a word, especially not to Jessica. She kept her thoughts to herself and waited in her patient way for Bella to share whatever it was that had put the perpetual color in her pale friend's cheeks.

The bell rang for lunch and Bella popped up from her stool, shoving books in her bag. She stopped and looked up. With a heavy sigh, she dropped heavily back on to her stool and said, "Seriously?! It's just now lunch time?"

With a disgusted sound, she dropped her head onto the table in front of her. Angela snickered and grabbed her own books.

"Come on, Bell," she said laughingly, "Let's go get some food. We'll need it if were going to make it through the rest of our sentence."

Bella chuckled and stood up. "If only we could get time off for good behavior, you know?"

They were laughing still when they went in to the cafeteria and put their stuff down on their normal table. Jessica was there already, picking at her anorexic salad and making doe eyes at Mike, who was on a chair, telling some wild tale about his most recent hiking trip. Bella rolled her eyes, Mike had a flair for the dramatic and she was no Jessica, to hang on his every word, especially when he was obviously exaggerating. Wolves the size of large draft horses? Did she look like she was born yesterday? What was his deal, didn't he realize that he didn't need to exaggerate; Jess was already caught, hook, line and sinker.

Shaking her head, she tucked her arm through Angela's and they went to get lunch. From behind them, there was a loud crash, followed by laughter. Looking back over her shoulder, Bella saw Mike scrambling up from the floor and Tyler with his head on the table, laughing so hard he appeared to not be able to stand up. She sighed and said, "Boys: Can't live with them, and even Charlie won't cover for me if I kill them."

Angela laughed, throwing her head back. "Good one, Bell. Besides, he _is_ one, so he's probably not the most sympathetic person."

Bella chuckled, "Good point, Ang, good point. At least my boyfriend-"

She stopped, her hand frozen in the act of getting a slice of pizza. _'God damn it, did I really say that out loud?'_ she thought frantically. There was at least a small chance that Angela hadn't heard her. Once glance at her taller friend showed that. She was frozen in the act of reaching out to get an apple, her hand wrapped around one, but it was still in the bowl, her mouth wide open.

With an exasperated sigh, she leaned over, "For heaven's sake, Angela, close your mouth, you'll catch flies like that."

Angela seemed to snap out of her frozen state, her apple practically flew to her tray and she leaned towards Bella. "I knew it!" she whispered frantically, "I fucking knew something was going on! I wasn't going to ask, I figured I'd let you tell me when you were ready."

Bella felt one of her tell-tale blushes spreading across her face, so she ducked her head in an attempt to hide it from Jessica the eagle-eyed. A quick glance showed her that Jess was doting on Mike so she was safe for the moment. Looking up at Angela she said, "Yeah, I've been seeing someone for a few months now, I just didn't want to say anything." She shrugged, "It's just.."

Bella suddenly found she didn't know what to say after that, but Angela nodded wisely. "I understand, Bella, trust me. A new boyfriend can be a touchy subject."

Bella nodded and opened her mouth to agree. Unfortunately for her, the next thing she heard was; "Bella's got a boyfriend!"

Jessica was suddenly standing next to them and she'd announced the news at such a loud volume that half of the cafeteria was now staring. A deeper shade of red spread across Bella's face as her mouth worked silently, trying to speak. Jessica grabbed her arm and dragged her back to the table, pushing her into an empty chair and dragging one up next to her. Angela bustled behind them saying, "Jess! Jess, please, think of Bella!"

Jessica waved Angela's words away and asked excitedly, and at full volume, "Tell, tell! How long have you known him? How long have you been dating? Where'd you meet him? Have you kissed yet? Is he a good kisser?"

All eyes at the table were on her now and Bella desperately wished that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. The gods were not kind and she remained above ground as she looked around the table at her friends. With a shake of her head, she gave in to the inevitable. "I've known him a long time, Jess, and we've only been dating a few months. I didn't want to say anything, I didn't want to mess it up or anything."

Jessica waved her qualifier away, "Whatever, Bella, we're friends, you should've said something." She tapped her fingers on the table and reached out to steal Bella's pizza off her tray. Jessica had a bite of it and chewed thoughtfully as she set it back where it belonged. "You didn't tell me if he is a good kisser or not, Bella. C'mon! I _need_ these details; my own personal life is going through a dry spell."

She cast a dirty look over her shoulder at Mike who looked at her like she'd lost her mind. That just reinforced Bella's opinion of boys in Forks, denser than granite. She sighed, feeling another blush start. "I'm still kissing him, aren't I?" She said, fighting the tide of mental images that rose out of her brain at her words. Jake catching her between him and the wall, kissing her until her knees tried to buckle, him holding her to him and kissing her more…the day they were left alone in La Push, the session on the living room floor where they were supposed to be working on school work, the way his hands felt when they caressed her skin, the amazing heat that his body radiated…

She realized that they were all staring at her and her blush deepened. Looking down so her hair fell over her face, she toyed with her pizza. "Umm…yeah…I, um…"

Jessica laughed, giving Bella's arm a squeeze, "Understood, Bella. He's not a good kisser, he's a GREAT kisser."

There was good-natured laughter around the table and her other friend returned to the conversations they were having, with the exception of Angela, who looked at her with a curious look on her face. Bella picked up her pizza and ate, trying to will her blush to subside. After a few minutes of companionable silence, Angela leaned over and said quietly, "You said you've known him for a long time, right?"

Bella nodded, a confused look on her face. Angela looked thoughtful for a moment then continued. "Since he's obviously not one of this lot of goons," she gestured to the boys sitting with them, acting like morons as usual. Bella nodded and waited for Angela to continue. Angela furrowed her brow and leaned in further, trying very hard to keep her voice down. "Is it Jacob, the boy you know from the reservation?"

"Yeah," she said casually, picking the pepperoni off her pizza, "It is actually."

The silence at the table was deafening. Jessica swiveled around so fast it looked like she was lucky she didn't give herself whiplash. Her look of utter astonishment made Bella feel an odd mix of embarrassment and white-hot defensive.

Jessica's eyebrows seemed to have disappeared up under her hair as she said, "But Bella, isn't that like, cradle-robbing or something? I know you're really picky about who you date," she shot Mike a look that was pure venom, "But really? He's got to be what, 16 at best? That's got to be bordering on illegal. God knows it's more than a bit nasty."

Bella's mouth dropped open. She knew that Jess could be vile, but this was heinous even for her. Tears sprung to her eyes as she struggled to find the right words, hell _any_ words. Yet again, her vocabulary failed her and all she could do was sit there. Luckily, Angela swooped in to her defense, leaning across the table and smacking Jessica's shoulder. "Jess, don't be a bitch! You're in no position to through stones, you know." Angela looked pointedly at Mike, "At least Bella found a boy who's smart enough to realize she likes him, unlike you."

Jessica jumped back like she'd been hit in the face. She blushed, stammered out something unintelligible, grabbed her bag and fled the cafeteria. Mike sat, staring at her empty chair for a moment before he looked up. "You and the Quileute boy, huh?" He looked genuinely confused, a look Mike had often. "Well, I…uh…" He rubbed his palms on the legs of his jeans. "Jess likes me?"

Angela made a noise of pure disgust and threw a piece of her hamburger's bun at him. "You idiot!" she said, making a shooing gesture, "Go after her, jackass!"

Mike looked torn for a moment, then grabbed his books and ran off in the same direction that Jess had gone. In the heat of the Jessica drama, her friends had forgotten that Jake was younger than her, which was most likely Angela's intention in the first place. Bella shot her friend a grateful look and Angela winked in response. "C'mon, Bell, we're going to be late," she said, trying her best to get her friend out of the cafeteria before some realized that Bella had gossip too.

**********

After an afternoon that felt like it last half of Bella's life but was kept interesting by her trying to dodge Jessica's attempts to lecture about Jake's age, the bell ending the day finally rang. Bella felt the tension drain out of her as she gathered what she needed for her homework out of her locker and started out anxiously towards the parking lot. Jake had told her last night on the phone that he had a surprise for her, something he'd been annoyingly cryptic about, seeming to enjoy her pleading for him to tell her, ignoring her statement that she absolutely hated surprises, and trying to convince her to promise him things if he told her. She'd laughed and said she wasn't stupid, that ploy wasn't going to work Mr.

Now that her school day was finally over, her thoughts returned to his surprise, wondering what it might be, hoping that he'd be smart enough to show her right away. Angela caught up with her in the hallway, putting her arm around Bella's shoulders in the way that close friends do. "In a hurry, Bell? Do you have hot plans with your young man this afternoon?" she asked teasingly.

Bella laughed, but before she could answer, she heard Jessica's voice as she joined them, "Young is the right word, Ang."

Angela rolled her eyes, "Damn it, Jess! Do you have to sound like a cheap broken record? What Bella does is Bella's…" she trailed off, her mouth hanging open for the second time that day.

They'd reached the doors to the student parking lot and there, leaning against The Beast, was Jake. Bella felt her heart skip a beat as she let her eyes roam over him. He was so very tall, it seemed that he'd grown again since she'd seen him yesterday. His muscles were visible where they strained slightly against the fabric of his black t-shirt, his hair pulled loosely back in a ponytail. He was leaning languidly against the bed of the truck, his jean clad legs crossed at the ankle, his jacket tossed over the side of the truck bed due to the warmth. Parked next to him was a sleek black motorcycle, and the combination of that and him made Bella want to swoon. And judging by the attention the girls were giving him, she wasn't the only one.

A quick glance to either side of her showed that neither Angela nor Jess was immune to the sight of him. Jess tried to pat Bella's arm, but she was so distracted she missed the first two times and when she finally made contact it was weak. "Oh, shit, Bell," she said breathlessly, "I take it all back, every word. If that's what cradle robbing looks like, sign me up."

Angela giggled, an odd sound coming from the normally serious girl. "Yeah, me too, Bella. They sure know how to grow them on the reservation, huh? If he's got any single friends, brothers or cousins, put me at the top of the list, alright?"

Bella laughed, something she realized she'd been doing a lot since she had been with Jake. "Sure, sure," she said, borrowing her man's favorite saying, "I'll get right on that. See you around!"

Still laughing, she ran over to Jake, not caring that probably the entire school was there and staring. His face lit up when he saw her and he straightened, holding his arms out to her. She ran right into them and he lifted her up, swinging her effortlessly around and set her down on the edge of the truck bed. He was still laughing when he leaned in and kissed her, his lips first brushing gently over hers, then increasing their pressure. She wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, suddenly completely oblivious to where they were. Her lips parted and he took advantage of that, slipping his tongue softly into her mouth for a moment, letting it dance with hers and then retreating to nibble for a moment on her lower lip. She made a quiet noise, her legs wrapping around his waist and pulling him closer. He responded by kissing her again, soundly and thoroughly, making her heart pound in her chest and her head feel like it was going to float away.

When they broke apart finally, he had a huge grin on his face. "Hey, there baby Bell," he said quietly, tracing the line of her jaw with his finger softly. "I'm glad to see you too."

"Mmmhmm," she said, leaning over to burying her head in his neck. Someone cleared their throat nearby and her head popped up. Angela was walking past on her way to her car and she said, "Remember, I'm your best friend. Top of the list, honey, top of the list."

Bella laughed and sat up straight, letting her legs disengage from his waist but keeping her arms still around his shoulders. "Will do, Ang," she called out to her friend, her eyes locked on Jake. "Is this my surprise? You coming here?"

He chuckled, "No, I just had this feeling that you'd appreciate it. Call it a fringe benefit." Gesturing toward the retreating Angela, he asked, "What was that about?"

Bella laughed, "Oh, she wants to be considered when any of your friends or relatives are looking for girl friends."

Jake through his head back and laughed, "I will let them know, trust me. They'll be glad of the variety."

Bella smiled, "What's my surprise then?"

He chuckled, "For someone who hates surprises, you sure are anxious about it, aren't you?"

She shrugged, "Well, I'd rather have it over so I can stop stressing about it."

He shook his head, "Sure, sure, whatever you say, gorgeous. It's right there," he gestured at the motorcycle.

Bella obediently looked over at the shiny black machine. "You can't be serious, Jacob Black, I can barely walk, what makes you think I can ride?"

He grinned at her, lifted her off the truck, throwing their stuff in the cab, "You just have to hold on." His grin was huge as he handed her a helmet. "I've got a feeling you can manage that just fine."


	5. That Plays with Fire

_AN: This was really hard to write for some reason, probably because I wanted it to be perfect! I'm not sure that it is, but I know it will do for what I need. Again, let me know what you think!_

_**HM**_

These charcters aren't mine, I'm just borrowing them for now from Stephanie Meyer, who certainly passed Kindergarden.

**Bella**

The first few minutes of her ride on the back of Jake's new 'toy' had been terrifying and she had plastered herself to him, her face hidden in his back, trying desperately to find the balance between her personal safety and his ability to pilot this crazy thing. She didn't know why, but she'd always had issues with vertigo, making her no fun at amusement parks, fairs and tall buildings. She figured that it was her ridiculous clumsiness and her intense awareness of that clumsiness that made her panic, she was psyching herself out. She felt her breathing start to speed up and instead focused on how she could feel the warmth of him penetrating her sweatshirt bringing with it a sense of calm and well-being. Jake certainly wouldn't let any harm come to her, would he?

They banked hard, swinging on to the coast road and she yelped despite herself. Jake giggled, taking one hand off the bike for a moment to reach back and give her thigh a squeeze.

"Bell, chill, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, alright?" He was yelling to be heard over the combination of the wind, the waves and the noise of the motorcycle. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The sound of the ocean drew her attention and she turned her head to look at it as they raced by. The Pacific was something that fascinated her, drawing her to it like a lodestone, commanding her attention whenever she was near it. From their height, she couldn't see the beach, but she could hear the relentless pounding of the waves on the shore. It always seemed to her that the ocean was trying to swallow up the land, like some beautiful predator. The struggle was one that she could watch for hours. The ocean today looked like a crumpled wool blanket carelessly left in the thin sunlight, all dark and light tones of grey. Bella had been here long enough to know that meant rough weather coming in.

Jake slowed the bike down and turned down a little winding lane that led them away from the coast, winding deeper and deeper into the trees. Now that she'd allowed herself to relax and trust him, she enjoyed the view of the trees flashing past all covered in their thick coats of moss. After a few long minutes, he slowed down even further and parked the bike in a little gravel parking lot just off the road. When he killed the engine, the sudden silence swamped in, seeming almost too quiet after their noisy ride. He looked over his shoulder at her with a grin. "I know you don't hike, babe," he said putting the kickstand down and some how managing to turn completely around so that he was facing her. "But there's a little place just a few minutes away that I'd like to show you."

He reached out and took her helmet off, then removed his own, hanging them on the handles of the bike. Then he reached out, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Any traces of her nerves melted away in the face of his amazing warmth and cheerfulness. With a contented sigh, she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his chest. "As long as it's not too far, Jake," she said quietly, "I'll follow you anywhere."

He chuckled, the sound rumbling up from his chest. "Careful, Bell," he said, kissing the top of her head, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

As he stood, he lifted her with him so she didn't accidentally throw the bike off balance when he got up and stood her up in front of him. With a huge grin, he reached into a bad that she'd somehow failed to notice strapped to the bike and pulled out what appeared to be a blanket. He winked at her and pulled her towards a tiny path.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, him watching the tiny forest creatures as they darted out of the way while she focused all too much on trying not to fall and bust her ass. Jake had spent enough time with her that he was well prepared for her amazing ability to fall over nothing, so she made the walk with no real incidents.

It had been about ten minutes, and they'd turned off on to what could only be called a 'game path', when they reached what appeared to be his destination. It was a small clearing, barely more than ten paces wide and it was full of rocks. Bella furrowed her brow for a moment, wondering how on earth he thought to use his blanket when there was no ground that was rock free. He pulled her into the middle and there was a patch of moss that was free of rocks, at least to the naked eye. Jake spread out the blanket with his back to her then plopped down on it. His eyes had a mischievous glimmer in them when he held his hand up to her, "C'mon Bell, have a seat. I won't bite…much."

She laughed and sat down next to him. He leaned back and pulled her with him so her head was on his chest, his arm wrapped around her holding her close, the other cushioning his head. She sighed again, "Jake," she said quietly, "I know that Charlie adores you, some days I think more than he likes me, but even with that you have to know that he'd murder you."

Jake laughed, his hand idly rubbing circles on her back. "Sure, sure," he said, "But I'd just hide out on the reservation until he got over it."

She chuckled, caressing his chest, "Would Billy hide you? He does have daughters of his own you know."

Jake shrugged carelessly, "Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure I could figure it out." He tightened his grip and pulled her up and over so that she was now laying half on him, their faces almost touching. "From where I'm sitting, I kinda think it would be worth it."

Bella blushed and opened her mouth to speak, but whatever it was that she was going to say got lost when his mouth touched hers again. He was, like always, gentle, his lips brushing over hers ever so slightly. She shifted so she could put her hand on the blanket above his shoulder and leaned in trying to intensify the kiss. Jake chuckled, and moved the hand from behind his head to cup the back of her head. "Slow down, baby, slow down," he murmured, moving his mouth from hers to the underside of her jaw. "We're not expected home for hours."

He found a sensitive part of her neck and she moaned softly, slithering slightly sideways so that more of her was touching him and his delicious, intoxicating, almost too strong heat. She felt his hand tighten in her hair, pulling it ever so slightly and she gasped involuntarily. He chuckled, his breath hot on her neck and did all she could to get even closer to him. The hand on her back slid down towards her waist and then slipped under the edge of her shirt. His skin was rough and calloused, but not in a bad way, and she gasped a little, her fingers gripping the blanket. He moved his lips slowly down her jaw headed towards her ear and all hope of rational thought faded, replaced instead with sensations and Jake…ah, Jake.

She wasn't aware of moving, and yet she was suddenly, gently, on her back staring up at his beautiful face. For a long moment, he just laid there, his weight supported on one arm while he softly caressed her cheek with his other hand. "Amazing," he said quietly and before she could make her overloaded brain function well enough to ask him about it, he had leaned back down, his lips on hers again. '_Ah'_ what little of her brain still functioned whispered, _'This I could really learn to love.' _That was the last conscious that she had for a while. It felt like she was drowning in sensation, the feel of his hands on her skin when he lightly ran his fingers over her stomach, the way his breath felt hot on her neck, the silky smoothness of his hair between her fingers. He slid his and a little further under her shirt, slipping his fingers just under the band on her bra, his fingers lightly touching the sensitive skin on her breasts. She gasped, her mouth still hard on his, her body seeming to move on its own, her leg slipping sideways so she could bend her knee, her hands pulling him closer to her. His breath caught slightly and he moved his hand up to softly touch her nipple. Bella reacted much as she had a moment before, and he seemed to take that as a good sign, because he started paying a bit more attention to that part of her, slipping her shirt out of the way a little. Some part of her started to panic, a tiny thread of alarm starting somewhere deep in the logical part of her that was almost totally shut off, but she ignored it without even being aware of it.

Jake moved his mouth from hers, kissed and nibbled his way down her neck, moving with a skill she hadn't realized that he had, past her shirt. He pressed his lips lightly to the upper swell of her breast and she gasped, her back arching slightly towards him. The voice of alarm got a bit louder, still not more than an annoying bumblebee buzzing around her head. Jake started moving down, stopping for a moment to tease her nipple into his mouth and swirl it around for a moment. Bella gasped his name and he chuckled. He started kissing his way down her stomach and with each move he made the voice got louder and louder.

'_Bella,'_ it said quietly at first _'Is this really how you want this to happen?'_

'_Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate,'_ she responded

He had made his way to her navel and softly traced the edge of it with his tongue before continuing his way down.

'_Seriously, Isabella. This is not what you want.'_

'_Shut the hell up, you fucking moron, of course it's what I want,' _

He softly flicked his tongue under the waistband of her jeans and she thought she might go crazy, it felt like nothing else she'd ever imagined.

'_GOD DAMN IT, ISABELLA SWAN!' _the voice was really mad now, _'Why do you think he's any different than any other boy? What's to stop him from moving on to greener pastures once you do this? At least make him wait a bit longer!'_

Her eyes flew open and she realized that Jake was in the act of unbuttoning her jeans. "Wait," she heard her voice say. "I…"

Jake looked up at her, confusion on his face. "Oh," he said, wrinkling his forehead. "Really? 'Cause you seemed really into it a moment ago, unless I'm mistaken."

Bella blushed and wriggled away from him slightly so she could sit up. Her blush deepened when she realized that her shirt was still pushed up, her breasts were out and her jeans were undone. _'Man', _she thought as she straightened her clothes. _'Way to send mixed signals, Bell, way to go.'_

She stammered around for a moment, mumbling under her breath as she got her clothes situated and tried to find the words she wanted. "I was, I mean **am** into it, Jake. I just am not sure I'm ready to loose my virginity, not right this moment, and not here."

Bella gestured to the forest, then stopped and looked around. "Ok, maybe here is a good place. It's really pretty."

Jake threw his head back, laughing and she blushed yet again. "Jake, it's not that funny!"

He smiled and leaned over, kissing her gently, but insistently, taking a moment to nibble on her lower lip, which made her get light-headed all over again. "Bell," he said, pulling her into his lap, "I'm not going to force you. I'm not happy, but I'll live."

She didn't quite know what to make of this, but decided to mull it over later when he hadn't pushed her hair out of the way so he could nibble on her neck and ear. After a few moments, he set her back down, stood up, pulled her to her feet and into an enormous hug. Lying down she had almost forgotten how tall he was. He kissed the top of her head and said, "Let's get you home then. That way I can make my game plan on how to change your mind."

Again, something didn't quite sound right about that, but she figured it wasn't that big of a deal and gladly let him pull her down the path towards the bike. At least the slightly harrowing ride home would clear her thoughts and cool her libido.


	6. Who Sees Light At the End of the Tunnel

AN: This part has been rolling around in my head for a while, trying to get some things accomplished so that we can move to the next phase. :) Please let me know what you think. Oh, and it's long, but I needed to get it all out at once. Thanks!!

**HM**

**Edward**

Edward ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. Despite what Alice had told him a few months ago, here they sat, in the kitchen of their home in British Columbia and not in Forks. The delay was killing him. He snorted, okay, not literally, since that was virtually impossible, especially for something as transient and tenuous as time, but it certainly felt like it. For the last few weeks, he'd been prowling around the house like a caged cat. Or so Esme said, her voice laughing, but her concern for him plain on her face. It upset his sensibilities to upset her so, but despite his conscious effort to 'chill out', he still felt like he was spinning his metaphorical wheels here. And he had no idea why.

With a loud thump, he let his head drop onto the dining room table, enjoying the shudder that went through the sturdy wood. A snort from the end of the table reminded him that he wasn't sitting here alone. Turning his head, he saw Emmett looking at him, a grin splitting his good natured face.

"Bro," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know what your problem is, but you're moping like a girl."

Edward shot him a dirty look, "Fuck off, Emmett. I've told you a hundred times I don't know why I'm irritated. If I did, don't you think I'd fix it?"

Emmett laughed and nudged Jasper, who was sitting to his left with his elbow. "No, I'm not sure you would. If I had to bet my own money, I'd say that you were secretly enjoying every second of your so-called misery. You are from the age of the 'dandy' aren't you?" Emmett grinned, throwing his head back with a loud laugh. "Didn't men of your time relish these girly moments?"

Edward growled, feeling his hands clench. "Emmett, don't be an ass."

Emmett shrugged and looked to Jasper, "Am I right, Jas? I seem to remember reading a book about it."

Edward snorted loudly, and muttered "Did it have pictures?"

Emmett cheerfully flipped him the bird and went on like he'd not spoken, "I think it was The Picture of Dorian Gray actually."

Every head in the room turned to look at him, which was considerable since they were all there, except for Carlisle who had called the 'family meeting' in the first place. Emmett grinned, "Anyway, I seem to remember that the 'pinnacle of manhood' in that book was a bit like Eddie. Jas, can't you do something to help him out, he's starting to make we want go kill a shark to prove that I'm a man."

Edward growled and shot Emmett a look that should've killed him on the spot. Rose smacked Emmett in the back of his head, hard enough that he turned and looked at her, still laughing but rubbing the spot. Ugh, this was ridiculous; he was so bad off that he was being compared to Dorian Gray. Nevermind the fact that the book was one of his favorites and was rumored to have been written about one of their own, it was humiliating. Edward prized himself on his ability to rise above the time of his birth and early upbringing. He forced himself to sit upright in the chair, looking down the table at his friends, no his family, and noticed the looks on their faces. They were worried about him. He could read it in their faces, all of them, even Emmett. Damn it, now he truly felt like and ass. It looked like they'd 'elected' Em their spokesman. Damn, damn DAMN. He sighed and felt even worse than he had. He took a deep breath. "He is, Emmett, this is me _on_ the Jasper regime. It's much much worse off of it."

Emmett wrinkled his forehead and looked over at Jasper, who nodded slightly. Emmett shook his head. "Damn it, bro, I didn't know. I'm sorry. Hopefully things will get better once we get back to Forks. You said that's where you feel like you should be, right?"

Edward opened his mouth to answer when Carlisle walked in. Edward's inner sense was flooded with what seemed to be Alice in Wonderland in Hawai'ian. He shook his head and looked up at his father. "If it's that bad, Carlisle, why are you doing it?"

Carlisle had the good grace to look chagrined. "That is a question that will be answered, Edward, in time. Let's just say that I'm doing it to help the ones that I love the most."

Carlisle took a seat next to Esme at the table and said, "That is part of why I called this meeting. There are some things about what Aro asked me to do that I feel I can talk to you all about. First of, he asked me to do some research, medical research, on something that they are interested in."

Alice made a face, "Carlisle, since when do we volunteer to help the Volturri? They've made no secret of how they want to possess certain of us. And based on what I've heard from others of us, they aren't interested in anything that would benefit anyone but themselves. Look how they view our choice of diet."

Carlisle nodded, "Normally I'd agree with you, and I won't speak to their motivation for wanting this particular bit of knowledge, though I can guess on some level. However," he looked at them all for a moment before going on, "I can see how this would be very beneficial to us. Personally."

Edward was intrigued, but knew his father well enough to know that asking questions would not help anything; Carlisle would tell them what they needed to know as they needed to know it. And the fact that he was still reciting Alice in his head proved that he considered this too early to disclose more than he was saying.

Carlisle looked down the table at Alice, who nodded, "Sure, Jazzy and I'll head down ahead of everyone. That's not an issue."

Edward looked at Carlisle, "What? She's going home first? Why?"

Carlisle looked uncomfortable for a moment. "I want to be sure that there's no danger for you there. Remember, you are the only one that Aro spoke directly to aside from me. I may be working for them after a fashion, but I don't want you to get hurt because of something he may be planning. Alice and Jasper are the most logical choice to go investigate, make sure that nothing has been damaged in the house, that everything is ready for our return."

Alice nodded, "It'll be ok Eddie," he smiled at her, seeing in her head all of them at their house in Forks, realizing that she was the only person on the planet he let call him that without secretly contemplating violence. "Besides, you'll be there with us in less than a month. Once Carlisle returns from his mysterious errand you'll all join us there."

Carlisle laughed, "Thanks, Alice. I was saving that part for last. I have to go away for a piece of research that Aro sent me word of today. I should be gone less than three weeks if my timeline is correct, we'll take a week to pack up what we need and we'll all meet again in Forks."

He looked around the table and everyone nodded, even Edward, despite doing so a bit reluctantly. The draw to be in Forks, _right now_, was as strong as ever. At least now he knew when he'd be there, despite the knowledge that the intervening three weeks would feel like forever to him. Carlisle nodded and stood up, taking Esme's hand and taking her with him, most likely for a private good bye. Jasper and Alice stood up, also hand in hand, and disappeared towards their room, presumably to pack as well. Emmett looked at Rosalie, then at Edward, then back at Rosalie. Her face had something written all over it, but Edward to absorbed in his own thoughts to try to figure out what it was. Emmett sighed, pushed himself up from the table and left, whistling.

For a few minutes, or hours time was a funny thing, they sat in silence, Edward turning and turning his feelings and predicament over in his head, Rosalie just watching him. Finally, she sighed and got up to sit right next to him. Snapping her fingers, she said, "Hey, Edward! Earth to Edward, come in Edward."

He jerked around to look at her, struck again for a moment how beautiful she was. Not his taste, not by a long shot, but he was still man enough to admit that she was a traffic stopper. She was like a perfectly engineered rose; heavy with scent, perfect petals, no matter if your taste ran to orchids, you still had to admit that it was well grown. He smiled at her, knowing that it didn't reach his eyes. "What can I do for you, Rose?"

She smiled back, though her worry still showed. "I know that you and I haven't always seen eye to eye through the years, but I'm worried about you. You seem obsessed, even more than you got over your music lessons."

He chuckled, his music lessons had been something that they'd argued over years before. She said that his practicing in the middle of the night, when he was still learning, was not 'conducive to the activities she had in mind'. Emmett had confessed later that his 'music' was interrupting their sex sessions; it was hard to maintain the mood when both parties were laughing hysterically. He had taken it hard for a few days, sulking around the house and then he'd realized that he just needed to practice more, only during the day. So he had, and in a matter of weeks he was good enough that no one was wincing any more, and not long after he'd been requested to play at night. The memory flashed through her mind and his in a matter of seconds. "I'm sorry, Rose. I know I've got to be driving all of you insane, I just," he stopped and sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair before dropping his head back to the table.

She exhaled softly, reaching out to run a hand through his hair, a gesture that was meant to comfort. "I know, Edward. We all know, even Emmett. You know how he is, he was trying to help, in his own slightly clumsy way."

He snorted, "Some days I don't know what you see in that lunk. Then I realize that _that_ is precisely what you see, someone who's manly and lunkish. It's what you need."

She sniffed, "I know you meant that as a compliment, Edward, so I'll take it as such, despite your terrible delivery."

They were silent for a moment, her hand softly caressing his neck. It reminded him, dimly, of how his mother used to touch him when he was a young boy. The memories he had of his parents were dim, like memories of dreams he'd had years before, but he recognized the comforting motion when he felt it. Time passed, again no way to know if it was minutes or hours. Finally, he turned his head and caught her gaze. "Rose, I'm miserable and I don't understand why. I don't want to be unhappy, trust me. Do you think I like being one of _those_ men, one of those fops that we grew up with? I see myself, every day in the mirror, and I see that I am becoming one of them and it kills me."

She made a vague shushing noise, but he shook it off with a shrug of his shoulders. "Rose, I don't know what to do. All this time I've been happy, as happy as I could be, alone, despite being surrounded by you happy bastards."

Rosalie smiled at him, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. "We aren't happy to make you miserable, Edward. We just _are_ happy."

"I know, I know," he said irritably, "I'm not so self absorbed that I think that you all are doing this to me. I don't know what changed, but in addition to this drive to be somewhere that isn't here, to be doing something that isn't this, I feel like I'm missing a piece now. Like the fact that I thought I was complete before was just some cruel joke from the universe, you know?"

She looked sad, but nodded. "I do. I'm sorry Edward. I wish that Esme were here to talk to you, she's so much better at this than I am." She looked up at the dark foot of the stairwell, a look of hope on her face when she heard footsteps on the stair. Edward knew that he did not always get along with Rosalie, that they disagreed on so many things on a basic level, but she did love him in her own way. Sure enough, Carlisle and Esme were descending the stairs, a look of pure joy on their faces that hit him in the chest like a freight train. He laid his head back down, ignoring their tender good bye; barely acknowledging Carlisle's hand on his shoulder, allowing the gentle squeeze his father gave his shoulder to sink through his body, knowing that it was an honest attempt at assuaging his pain. The door closed behind Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie had a whispered conversation at the foot of the stairs, he heard his name mentioned and felt the pain and concern blossom in Esme's mind like a flower. His heart dropped when he realized how much he was hurting his mother, is this what he'd sunk to? Hurting women with his inglorious wallowing? What kind of man did that make him? One that was so self-absorbed that he did not care what he did to others? When had he become this man? The line of thought pushed him deeper into his internal blackness and he thought he might not emerge.

Esme approached him and reached out, pulling his hand out of his lap tugging him until he stood up. Esme was at least as strong as he was, but she rarely showed it, choosing instead other 'weapons' in her formidable arsenal. He stood up and silently followed her to the living room, sat when she pulled him down. Still silent, she wrapped an arm around him and pulled, never hard enough for him to be forced into awareness that she was overpowering him, but hard enough that he didn't have the give a damn in him to fight her. She expertly maneuvered him so his head was in her lap, his feet on the couch and her hand was stroking his hair. Yes, this was what it had been like to be a little boy.

"Tell me about it, son," she said quietly but insistently.

He wanted to fight her, he wanted to keep it all in, after all, wasn't that what he did best? As a last ditch effort, he said "I don't want to burden you."

She sighed, the noise tinged with annoyance and he realized that any other woman would have smacked him. "Edward, since when do you know more than me? Do you know what I can and can't handle? I am tired of the men in my life deciding what's best for me, like I am some delicate flower who can't handle anything at all, who has to be sheltered."

He sensed, buried under her concern for him and her irritation _at_ him, another irritation, perhaps directed at Carlisle? He could've pushed it, turned the conversation on to her, but he knew better. Esme was like a tidal wave, a tsunami, a complete force of nature. So instead, Edward sighed, and said quietly, "I can't explain it, Esme. I wish I could, I feel like if I could explain it, I could fix it and stop making all of you suffer."

At his words, she _did_ smack him, lightly though. "Again, deciding what is best for us, what we can handle. We love you, Edward, we are family. We are something stronger and deeper than family. Do not disrespect us by shutting us out. That is one thing of our time that I wish you could shake off as easily as you've shaken off the other unpleasantries of our time."

He sighed again, but remained quiet for a bit. Finally, he said, "I do not know how to explain it. I feel like there is something I'm supposed to be doing, something I'm not doing now, here. Like I'm being pulled by some magnet somewhere that I can't pin down. I've never been particularly lonely, you know that," she made a disapproving noise but did not speak, "Now I feel like there's a giant hole in my chest, like some part of me that was original is gone."

She stroked his hair in silence, seeming to be choosing her words carefully. "Love," she said and he smiled despite himself. It always made him feel lighter when she called him that. "You know that I've been worried about you for a long time now." He heard the smile enter her voice, "I'm sure that you just figured it was nothing more than a mother's desire to see her son settled down."

He shrugged slightly, "I'd thought something of the sort."

He heard her shake her head, her hair whispering with the movement. "No, Edward, it's more than that. I believe that we are not meant to live our lives alone, God wants more for us."

Edward snorted, "God has abandoned us, Esme. We are monsters and killers; God has no use for us."

She was silent for a long moment and if he closed his eyes, he could see her in his mind, her face far away as she looked for the words to say. He had never broached this subject with her; religion was not something that the Cullen's discussed. Finally, she spoke, "Carlisle and I have spoken in great depth about the different ways that our 'children' view the world. I've come to a theory if you'd like to hear it."

He shrugged, "I don't see why not. Anything will be a distraction from this feeling." Edward tried to sit up, but her arm moved to drape over his side, effectively pinning him down. "I'll find it easier to say if I don't have to look at you," she said quietly.

This intrigued him so he nodded, not wanting to speak and break her thoughts. Esme exhaled and said, "I think that our attitude in this life has to do with how we left our mortal one. Please, hear me out before you tell me that I'm nothing more than a crazy woman."

Edward rolled over so he could catch her eye, "I would never say that Esme, you are far from crazy."

She smiled at him and shrugged, "Be that as it may, I've not even told Carlisle about this theory, so I'm unsure how it will be received. Take me, since I find it easiest to dissect myself. I was married, had wanted a baby since I was old enough to be aware of my future in any capacity. I suppose it was a product of my upbringing, the times and the way that God made me." She fell quiet for a moment and then gave her shoulders a gentle shake, "Sorry, I digress. To loose something that you've been desiring for most of your life is a traumatic thing, I pray that you never know it." Edward heard her shake her head again and then she went on, "What I'm driving at is when I went over that cliff, all I could think about was my dead baby and how loosing him had meant that I lost something of myself that I could never get back. You know that I was considered by the doctors to be dead, and yet I still lingered, I see that now. I was deep in my own mind, consumed with the thoughts of my baby, how all I wanted was to be a wife and mother. That was the state of my mind when Carlisle found me in the morgue and made me this person that you put up with every day."

The laughing response sprung to his mind, but he set it aside, this was not a subject that was a laughing matter. He felt that this was something important, something that he needed to hear, something that would change him forever. So he waited in silence for her to speak again. She did, but now her voice was quiet, "I think that our state of mind dictates who we are in this new life. If you take the time to think about it, I'm sure that you will find that it makes sense, at least, it does to my mind. Jasper was not only defending his cause, he was focused on war and he's the best at it among us. Rosalie was consumed with her own beauty, sure of her place as the most beautiful creature around, sure that she was right and I can say, as I'm sure you can, that not much has changed."

He allowed himself a small snort, but not the derisive one he would've indulged in a few hours ago. Rosalie was many things, but a completely heartless bitch was not one of them, despite her great attempts to be one. Esme went on, "Carlisle was raised to focus solely on the salvation of humanity, is that so different from what he does now? With that in mind, is it really that surprising that he was the one to pioneer this lifestyle? Emmett was brash, an adventurer out trying to tame the wilderness, and I see no change in him now. Alice is the only one that doesn't fit as well into my theory; we don't know where she was before. But I suppose the argument could be made that she has no fetters of mortality, no knowledge of how people are supposed to be, so she simply is. And you," she leaned over and brushed a kiss over his forehead, "You my bright darling boy, you spend the last few days and hours of your life, unless I am incorrect, having your Last Right administered. The time that you didn't spend receiving them yourself, you would have been hearing them. The clergy is never as present as they are at the end of people's lives; they become consumed with God, Heaven and the state of people's immortal souls. Is it that much of a stretch to think that you would carry some of that over with you into this new life? I don't think so."

She fell silent, allowing him to mull this over for a few minutes, waiting for him to break the easy silence. He did, moving his head so that he could see her face. "Alright, Esme," he said, "I see your logic. What does that mean for me? For all of us?"

Esme smiled her angel's smile and said, "I remember reading once that we are not who were raised to be, we are who we make ourselves into. Is this who you want to be, Edward? A vampire who hates his own existence? One who is so consumed with his soul and the judgement of a God that may or may not agree with the doctrine that you are holding yourself to? Do you want to be that man?"

Edward sighed and sat up, this time, she let him. He leaned forward, his head in his hands. "Esme, do you really think that? Do you really think that my entire attitude is caused by my time in the hospital?"

She shrugged delicately and got up, going to straighten some flowers in a vase. "It is as good a reason as any, Edward. There is no reason why we don't all come into this life as Alice, the venom erases so much, why not that?"

Edward looked at for a moment and then looked away, "I don't know, Esme. You raise some good points. I dimly remember that my parents' and I attended church, but I don't remember it being a particularly strict church, none of the fire and brimstone that I hear in my head."

He snorted and shook his head. "Do you realize how horrible I'll feel if I've been making myself miserable for the last eighty odd years?"

Esme smiled at him, "No use beating yourself up for the past, love. Instead, focus on making yourself a better man. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to start a new time in your life not hating the man in the mirror?"

Edward didn't have an answer and Esme floated from the room, leaving him to his thoughts.


	7. Who Keeps Secrets

_AN: This section is in honor of Peter Facinelli being in MY TOWN today doing an interview session. *le sigh* I hate being broke, I'd totally go get an autograph and picture with no hint of shame!_

_Also, this is because I've been requested to let you know what's going on. And I had the desire to throw another thing at you, another unexplained thing. Just to warn you, there's an OC in here (no, not me) solely because I need it down the road. *evil grin* You know you love me. Or something like that. Please let me know what you think, I do try to please my audience._

_**HM**_

**Carlisle**

He really felt like an ass, he thought as he leaned into the wall in the hallway and replayed the last ten minutes in his head.

_After he had made love to Esme, she had laid on the bed, her hair spread out on the sheet like a halo, the moonlight kissing her skin, staring at him. It had taken all of his will to get up, leaving his love there on the bed, and move around the room packing what he needed. She had laid there, her eyes silently following him despite the darkness. Finally, as he sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his jeans, she moved slightly, her hand caressing his back, causing him to look over at her. God, she took his breath away every time he looked at her. He'd not thought, when this life had just begun, that he'd ever be this happy. But he was, and he chose not to question why God gave him this angel. Instead, he smiled slightly and leaned over, kissing her mouth softly, pulling her lower lip into his mouth for a little nibble. She sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck, not pulling him in but instead, in her own way, showing him how she treasured this moment. That was something about Esme that he'd discovered in the first years of their time together, she treasured everything, everything he brought her, every moment that put smiles on the faces of their 'family', every sunset was a magical experience. God, how he loved her._

_He slipped an arm under her shoulders, lifting her up to him a little, savoring the feel of her skin on his. There was no way he could delay, but he had to take another moment to show her how much he worshipped her. He knew her very well, this moment, with his focus completely on her, was as meaningful to her as hours of love making._

_It took effort, but he gently laid her back on the bed, and broke the kiss, though he stayed with his mouth hovering over hers. "Ah, my love," he said quietly, letting himself nibble on her lip again, before moving to kiss her jaw. "I am sorry that I have to leave you, I really am. But I will not be gone long, love, I promise."_

_She sighed, turning her head slightly and letting her fingers softly caress his back. "I know, Carlisle," she murmured, there was pain there, and he felt it stab into his heart like a dagger. "I won't push you for the why; instead I have but one question."_

_Her hands came up to cup either side of his face, pulling slightly so he was looking right into her amazing eyes. She held him like that, her eyes searching his for…something he didn't pretend to know what. After a moment, she asked quietly, "Is it worth it, my heart?"_

_Carlisle closed his eyes, letting the words wash over him, allowing himself to feel that pain, taking his share of the pain he had been inadvertently causing the ones he loved. He opened his eyes and gently laid his hand on her cheek, his thumb rubbing little circles on her cheek, taking a little joy out of how she leaned into his touch. "Yes, my love," he said, leaning in to kiss her again, "It is worth it. You'll see very soon, I promise."_

_She nodded, but didn't speak again as he carefully detangled himself from her and finished getting dressed. His hand was on the doorframe when he looked back over his shoulder at her. Esme was still laying in the moonlight, her face turned slightly towards it so it illuminated her face. She looked over at him and whispered, "Hurry home to me, my love."_

_Carlisle didn't trust his voice not to break, so he nodded, kissed his fingertips and held them out to her in a gesture that was his custom. She nodded and then looked away, back out her window into the dense forest that surrounded their house. He felt the same stab of pain as he left their bedroom and he stopped to lean on the wall for a moment. He could hear Edward and Rosalie downstairs talking quietly and he didn't want them to see him like this, they didn't need to worry about him or Esme any more than they already did._

A little noise alerted him to some else's presence and he turned to see who had found him at his most vulnerable. It was Esme, wrapped in a robe. He turned his head back to the wall so he didn't have to see her, to avoid this pain he felt in not only lying to her and their entire family, but in having to leave them.

Esme made a quiet soothing noise and came in front of him, wrapping her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. "Don't feel so bad, mio campione," she said softly, her pet name for him making him smile slightly. "Let's not part like this, amore."

She lifted herself up on her toes and kissed his neck, nuzzling the sensitive part just below his ear. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, lifting her up slightly, feeling a bit bad for being so tall. She chuckled, nibbled on his earlobe, punctuating her nibbles with her whispered words, "There, now we can show our children our happy faces now, can't we, mio salvatore?"

He shivered in the best possible way, feeling his body react to her as it always, did particularly when she whispered Italian to him. Carlisle lowered his bag to the floor so he could have both hands free for Esme. A window opened in the back of the house, meaning that Jasper and Alice had chosen to leave by a more unconventional method. A small smile ghosted over his face as he turned towards the wall, lifting her up so he could kiss her. She giggled softly, wrapping her legs around his waist. She opened her mouth to speak but he had other ideas. He leaned over, kissing where her neck met her shoulder and she gasped quietly. Her back was pressed to the wall, and he moved a hand from its place on her perfect ass and slipped it between them, slipping it between the folds of her robe, finding her pearl and softly caressing it. She gasped again, still quietly, her sense of decorum still intact. That was fine by him; he didn't want to be interrupted. He rubbed and flicked her pearl, occasionally pinching it slightly, his mouth still on her neck. Her hands tightened on his shoulders as she got closer and closer to the edge that would throw her into perfect pleasure. As she got closer, he slid a finger inside her, savoring the feel of her, slick and tight around his finger, his own body aching to be inside her. A moment later, her nails dug into him and he felt her spasm, the ripples coursing through her wonderful body. It was almost more than he could take and he knew he had to be inside her, now. He moved his hand for a moment so he could undo his jeans. Esme leaned her head forward, nibbling on his neck, murmuring words he was sure, but he couldn't make his brain recognize them. He had himself free of the confines of his pants quickly and was about to slide into her when her hand reached down, grasping him. It was his turn to gasp, his head falling forward to lightly thunk into the wall. Her mouth was on his ear, words that he still couldn't understand falling from her lips between her nibbles, and her hand…Oh God, her hand. It was moving up and down his shaft, making him shiver with delicious pleasure. He could feel his pleasure mounting and he wondered, distantly, how much more he could take before his desire to possess her overtook him. Esme shifted and he groaned again, she had him poised right at her entrance, the tip of him grazing over her, teasing him with her delicious wetness. He shuddered again, and said quietly, "Esme..love…please." She chuckled into his ear and the first words he'd understood in a while whispered from her mouth, "Tutto quello che dovevo fare era chiedere."

His world came undone when she slipped him inside her. Every time was like the first time with Esme. For a moment, they stayed like that unmoving, him deep inside her, adjusting to the new sensation, feeling her quiver around him. It was almost enough to send him over the edge. He regained control of himself again and started moving, sliding in and out of her, feeling his pleasure build. She moved with him, her forehead pressed to his, her eyes holding his as they stroked closer and closer to oblivion. He could feel the tightness starting to build and he knew it wasn't going to be too much longer. She bit her lip and nodded slightly. They'd been together for so long he knew what she meant, and let himself go. The gentle movements changed, took on a new intensity, a new ferocity. She gripped his shoulders again, her hips moving to meet his. He felt her start to clench around him and he continued his intense pace, wanting to watch her. It only took a few more strokes and she was done, her legs tight around him, her body convulsing around his. As usual, he could only watch a moment of her pleasure before his body threw him into oblivion, spilling into her, his sight darkening for a moment, her face and name in the front of his mind.

How long they stayed like that, Carlisle had no idea. Time was such an odd thing when you were a vampire. She moved first, kissing him softly, bringing him back to the here and now. He returned the kiss, slipping his tongue over her lips softly until she sighed, letting him in. They kissed, long and deep, and Carlisle felt as though he was trying to bring her into him. Or that she was trying to bring him further into her.

The kiss ended as it had begun, slowing down until they were just brushing their lips together. She sighed softly, a sigh of contentment and said, "That's a better way to say good bye for now, isn't it, my love?"

He nodded and set her down gently. While he readjusted his jeans so that he was decent again, he said quietly, "It is. Before I go, I want you to understand one thing."

She nodded, biting her lower lip and looking up at him. Carlisle cupped her face and looked down at her. "I am doing this for us, for all of us. I promise you, it will all make sense to you very soon. To all of you."

Esme smiled and placed her hand on his, "I trust you, Carlisle. I always have and I always will."

He nodded and they continued downstairs, exchanged another long tender kiss at the front door, and then he headed out into the blackness of the night.

********

Carlisle had been driving for over a day now, following the directions that Aro had sent to him. It had been hard not to think about what he was about to see and do, but he'd managed, blaring the radio and translating the songs into randomly selected languages. They had no idea how far Edward's 'reach' was, but Carlisle was very close to his son, so it stood to reason that he might be able to 'hear' him this far out. It was a chance Carlisle was unwilling to take. This was too big, too promising to risk getting everyone's hopes up. Shaking his head, he pushed his Aston Martin up over 150, using the speed as a distraction.

He pulled into a non-descript office building on the north side of Winnipeg, just before dawn. As he got out of the car and grabbed his bags, he looked around. The Volturri had picked a good spot for this project, fifty miles from the nearest humans, but in the middle of what appeared to be an abandoned commercial park. He made his way to the entrance and pulled open the door. Once inside, he saw one of the Volturri's guard standing by an interior door. As he approached, the man bowed slightly. "Dr. Cullen. You've been expected; go through this door, third door on the left."

Carlisle nodded and went to pass the man. The man reached out and lightly touched his arm, "The entire complex is shielded from mental intrusions, do not fear for your secrecy here."

Carlisle was surprised, but did not let it show on his face. So the Volturri were interested in keeping their secrets? Interesting. Who were _they_ hiding from? He made his way down the hall, immensely glad to now be able to think freely about his work. The third door on the left was an office that was apparently meant for him. He tossed his bags on to the waiting couch and allowed himself the luxury of contemplating this research while he dug out and put on his lab coat. Aro wanted him to look into a few things, mainly designed to help vampires blend into humanity a bit more. One of those was trying to figure out if there was a way to make mortal food palatable. Carlisle shook his head. He could see the use of that to him and his family, but not to the Volturri. It made him nervous. As he shrugged into the lab coat, he came to the first of two real reasons he had agreed to be involved in this project. When Aro had first suggested it, Carlisle had thought he was hearing things. One of Aro's 'pets' had discovered a group of half human half vampires living in South America and Aro wanted to know if it was possible to recreate that at will or was it some genetic peculiarity to the region and the vampire in question. While Aro was not concerned with the human 'host' as he'd called the mother survival, Carlisle was. It was his primary focus, though he'd taken pains to insure that Aro not realize this until he had reason in mind that would satisfy the old man. The larger reason that he'd agreed was the second part of the research. Even thinking about it made him feel light headed.

Aro wanted to find a way for vampire women to give birth.

The implications were amazing and Carlisle was not so stupid as to think that Aro didn't have something heinous and devious in mind for this advance, but Carlisle was prepared to do whatever was needed to insure that never happened. He had almost turned down Aro's request when his traitorous mind had pulled up images of Esme holding a baby and, worse somehow, Rosalie holding a baby. He wasn't so detached that he didn't realize that the lack of baby was a huge part of Rose's issues. If he could find a way to give the two most important women in his life the one thing that they were missing, he would sacrifice almost anything to see it happen.

Carlisle shook his head, glad to have been able to let his mind run free for the first time in over a year. Leaving his office, he grabbed a young vampire woman in scrubs and a lab coat and asked her which way to the lab. She smiled and pointed him in the right direction. It was time to get down to business.

He stepped into the lab and looked around. Everything he'd asked Aro for was here, including a glass window that he assumed looked into the room where the young pregnant girl they'd brought up from Brazil lay in a bed, pregnant with a vampire's baby. He was about to head over to check in on her when he noticed a lab coat clad figure looking into a microscope. Tipping his head slightly, he wondered who it was, but decided to find out after he'd checked on his patient. He was halfway to the door to the little room when he heard, "Dr. Cullen! Is that anyway to treat on old friend?"

If his heart had still been beating, it would have skipped eight beats at the sound of that voice. He'd not heard it in over 50 years. Turning slowly, he looked at the woman who'd hailed him. Maggie Coleman, Dr. Maggie Coleman he corrected himself, was standing in the middle of the lab, her hands on her hips and a grin on her face as she looked at him. She still looked the same, black hair done in the style of the era in which she'd last been living, the 1940s, her clothing hailing from the same era. _'Holy shit,'_ he thought, _'Aro's serious if he looked __**her**__ up.'_


	8. With Insight

_AN: So I felt the need to write this today. I hope you guys like it. I tried to accomodate the reviews that I've gotten (both online and off) I hope that you find it to your liking. :-) Please remember to review, so I can keep going :-)_

_**HM**_

**Alice**

Alice looked around the Cullen family home with a smile on her little face. She trailed around the living room, running her fingers over the familiar items, letting herself think about all the good times the family had enjoyed within these walls. Jasper was upstairs; looking around their rooms to be sure that no one had disturbed their things. On the drive from the house in British Columbia to Forks, she had told him that she saw no issues, but despite him saying that he believed her, they both knew he'd still check for himself. Some habits were the hardest to kill.

She wrinkled her forehead, feeling a vision coming on, hard and strong. "Jazzy!" she yelled, feeling her sight dim and her knees start to give out. He was there in an instant, his strong hands guiding her to sit on the couch, the dust that their presence kicked up tickling her nose a little. Images flashed before her eyes and she was glad for the millionth time that she was a vampire. There was no way a simple human mind could follow these images, let alone make any thing resembling sense out of them. A car speeding along a darkened highway, its headlights cutting through the darkness as if it was a physical thing, she recognized it as Carlisle's car, the dark grey Aston Martin was the car he chose for distance driving. Carlisle approaching a building with nothing about it to distinguish it from a million others on the North American continent, he cast an eye over his shoulder as he entered the building and then…nothing. He disappeared from her mind's eye, making her face turn into a pout and a small frustrated and disappointed noise escape her lips. Dimly, as everything was when she had a vision, she was aware of Jasper's voice, asking her something with loving concern thick in his voice. She waved him away, unable to speak as more images washed over her. She saw Edward wandering around the forests that surrounded Forks with a tormented look on his face. There was Jacob, Edward's best friend here in Forks, something that surprised all of them when it happened, walking down a barely noticeable path in another, older forest before he looked over his shoulder at her and disappeared. A girl, human if Alice knew how to read her visions correctly, standing on a precipice, her toes curled around the bare rock, to her left lay a lion to her right a wolf. Alice wished, in the deepest part of her heart, that she could see the girl's face, but she was a blur, nothing about her was clear except for the fact that she was a girl. A dark presence, sniffing the woods, circling closer and closer to the house and making every nerve in her being shiver…

The visions slipped away and she leaned on Jasper's chest, letting her body relax and her mind carefully filing away all that she had seen. She could feel Jasper's hands on her, softly stroking her hair, his voice softly whispering comforting things, his accent suddenly very heavy. She smiled, that was one way to tell if he was worried, his accent always got heavier, his origins becoming glaringly clear. When she felt ready, she reached an arm up and wrapped it around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair.

"Thank you, baby," she said quietly, "I always feel better knowing you're here with me."

He snaked an arm around her and hugged her tight. "Not a problem, darlin', not a problem. Anything worth making a note of?"

Under normal circumstances, the question would've offended her but lately very little that she saw made obvious sense. She chose to blame Carlisle and his damned secrecy. Or Edward and whatever strong currents were pulling him. The stronger it was, particularly when it didn't appear to be a physical entity, the harder it was for her to get anything nailed down ahead of time. Once people got involved, it would lay out before her like a well manicured path and they would all breathe easier, but for now, her visions were jumbled and unclear. She sighed, "Well, I saw Carlisle enter a building then disappear. I saw Jacob again, same as before, and of course I saw our dear emo brother in the forest _again_." She made a face before she continued, "I really wish he'd find a way out of his depression, it's really cramping my style."

She heard Jasper chuckle and turned her head slightly so she could see him, "What? He is! I'm hoping things will get better once we're all back here. Who would've thought that tiny little Forks would be so damned important?"

Jasper shrugged but didn't reply. He knew her so well, some days it seemed better than she knew herself, and it seemed that he was waiting for her to get back on the topic at hand. With a laugh, she said, "Oh! Right! There was a new one, a girl, though before you ask I couldn't see her face or anything about her aside from her gender. She was standing on a cliff, on one side of her was a lion and on the other a wolf. Strangest thing, Jazzy, I've got no clue what it means."

He pulled her into his lap, his arms still tight around her. "That's ok, baby. You'll figure it out when the time is right, you always do."

She giggled then gasped as he leaned over and lightly nibbled on her neck. "I appreciate your vote of confidence. If you're interested, I can show you my appreciation, if you're willing to come upstairs."

Instead of answering, he bolted up from the couch carrying her in his arms and almost ran up the stairs.

*********

When the sun rose, Alice forced herself out of bed. There was something very soothing about laying in the gathering light, taking in the sight of her love. But there were things she needed to do today, things that she had no choice but to get done so that the rest of the family could join them as soon as possible. She knew how miserable Edward was and how miserable he was making everyone in the family and she knew that the faster she got her work her finished, the sooner everyone's misery would be greatly reduced. That was one thing that her restless mind had gleaned from her disjointed visions; Forks was the key to alleviating Edward's misery. And the gods above knew they all needed that to happen, soon. She was pretty sure that it was impossible for vampires to commit suicide, but she wasn't too convinced that Edward in his 'infinite wisdom' wouldn't get it in his pea-brain that his demise was the only answer. She snorted delicately as she stared out over the forest, judging the cloud cover so she could choose her path for the day, the town or the house. '_Boys were so stupid sometimes'_, she thought while she waited for the sun to fully come up over the mountains. Why was the damn thing so slow today?

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't register the noises she was hearing as heralds of Jasper's approach until he wound his arms around her. Some of her tension drained away, as it always did when he was close to her. "Long time no see," she said with a smile.

He chuckled, looking out over the forest as well. "Yeah, so long I don't know how I stood it. A whole five minutes."

She laughed, "True. Why are boys so stupid, Jaz?"

She felt him start, "What? What did I do now?" he asked.

Laughing, she turned her head to kiss his shoulder, "Not you, silly, you're not a boy. I mean 'boys', like Edward and Emmett. And Edward."

He chuckled, "Well, I've got no idea why they do the things they do, baby. I wish I did, I could stop them more effectively if I did."

She shook her head, "Good point. Maybe I'll ask Esme when she gets here. This is one of those times that I'm not sure that it's better that I don't remember being human. Maybe I'd have some additional insight as to the behavior of boys."

Carefully, she stepped out of his embrace and went to her closet to find clothes. "Or at least I might have a bit more patience with their god damn retardation."

As she slipped into a pair of Seven Jeans and cashmere sweater, she caught him looking at her. Normally, this would have been an invitation to forgo dressing for a few more minutes, but the look on his face wasn't his normal one of barely controlled lust. It was something she could only identify as concern. She tipped her head sideways as she shimmied into her jeans. "What's wrong, baby?" she asked.

He shook his head and entered the closet, pulling his own clothes off of a hanger. "I worry about you, Alice, that's all. It bothers me for some reason that you don't remember anything before this life. I get the feeling that the other shoe is going to drop, you know?"

She looked at him for a long moment as she raked her hand through her hair, making it stick out from her head in what was her normal fashion. In the span of time that it took her to decide which pair of shoes to wear today, she'd considered telling about the other part of the vision, the circling dark thing, and had subsequently vetoed it. No use getting him all wound up for something that might mean nothing. Instead, she stepped into her shoes and went to him, wrapping her arms around him while his own arms were tangled in the sleeves of his sweater, his head half in the neck. With a giggle, she leaned over and nibbled on his collar bone, enjoying the way he gasped. After a moment, she moved her head so he could get his sweater on the rest of the way. He shot her a look and reached for his boots. Giggling, she hopped up on the dresser she kept in the closet and said, "I guess it is possible, but we'll just have to keep an eye out for it, you know?"

He shook his head as he stamped his feet into his boots. "I suppose you're right. No use borrowing trouble." He twisted around, using the door frame as brace and looked out their wall of glass. Sure enough, the sun had risen enough that his eyes could just make it out behind the thick wall of clouds. Turning back to her, he said, "Looks like we've got another fantastically cloudy day here in Forks, just how we love it. Shall we go out and announce our return, milday?" He held his hand out to her, bowing with a flourish.

She giggled, hopped down and took his hand, "Of course, my lord. Let's reintroduce the people of this town to the Cullens."

*********

They had left early enough that they made it to the local hospital well before the 7am shift change, which meant that they were able to deliver Carlisle's note directly to the Chief of the Surgery, who was working an overnight shift. They knew this courtesy of one of Alice's earlier visions of their return. The man was so overjoyed he almost wept, he said over and over again to let her father know how excited the entire staff was going to be at his imminent return. Jasper had waited in the car; the smell of human blood in the hospital was overwhelming for him. Alice had laughed her tinkling laugh and had impulsively hugged the man, laughing again at his blush while she skipped out of the hospital. So far, so good.

A trip to the local sheriff's office had seen a controlled yet happy reaction from Chief Swan. It had always intrigued Alice how easily he slipped into poker night with Carlisle, she wasn't stupid enough to think that he failed to notice Carlisle's habits. It was a credit to the Chief that he didn't ask question. As she left the precinct, she mused for a moment on the Chief's laid back attitude. Something tugged at her, telling her that this fact was not only important, but also central to some other issue. She tucked the thought aside for mulling over later when she had more free time.

Jasper pulled into the school parking lot, parking in an available space then turned to look at her, a nervous grin on his face. "Are you ready for this?"

She turned and looked at him, unable to stop her hand from threading into his hair. "Are you?" she asked quietly. She knew that attending school was a physically painful thing for him, and his pain was her pain.

His smile turned into something more genuine as he leaned into her touch. "I think so. I wish I could find a way for it to be easier, you know?"

She nodded, but remained silent. When he was busy with their brothers, she sometimes sat outside and tried to find a sign of the time when it would be easier for him. She just couldn't find that point in time when being around humans was an easy task for him and it broke her heart.

His door opened and he was at her door in a flash, holding it open for her. His grin had taken on a mischievous glimmer and she laughed as she stepped out, taking his hand. Together, they walked at a normal human pace into the office and re-enrolled all of the Cullen 'children' in Forks High.

***

It only took a little doing, but she and Jasper had almost every class together, something which made it infinitely easier on him. The morning round of class passed quickly and with little to no incident. Word of their return spread through the school like wildfire, little whispering groups of teenagers passing the information like it was their only hope of salvation. The Cullens were back.

Jasper opened the door to the cafeteria for her and she preceded him into the loud, smelly room. Reaching back, she took his hand and gave it a squeeze. She didn't have to look at him to know that his face was registering pain. It smelled like food in here, she knew that, but she'd managed to convince herself that despite the way it smelled, this food was off limits. She wondered idly, her thumb tracing circles on the back of his hand, why it was so much easier for her than for anyone else in her family and, conversely, why it was so damned hard for him.

They were making their way to an empty table when she smelled it

It hit her like a tsunami, a scent that was almost unbearably delicious and hypnotizing.

'_Jesus fucking Christ,'_ she thought, fighting for control, _'Who the hell is that?'_

She felt Jasper tense and suddenly she panicked. Turning quickly, almost too quickly given that hundreds of eyes were on them, she reached up and took his face in her hands, pulling his face down so that he was looking at her, only her. His eyes had darkened, he'd bitten his lip and he was starting to shake. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she lifted herself up on her toes and whispered in his hear, "Jasper. Jazzy, my love. Don't. Please. I'm begging you. Please don't."

She was pressed to tight to him that she felt the shudder pass through his body at her words, felt the internal battle between him and his instincts. A tiny flash popped in her head of them continuing their walk across the cafeteria and she smiled. Leaning up again, she nibbled his earlobe surreptitiously and whispered, "You can do it, I know you can. Trust me, even if you don't trust you."

He nodded, giving her a small squeeze and pushing her slightly away. They were causing quite a scene, something that his Southern decorum struggled with still. She laughed and started walking again towards the empty table. The entire encounter had transpired in a matter of seconds.

She was unprepared for the sight of the person attached to the smell.

They were almost to the table that was their destination, their 'usual' table when a table came fully into view. There were the 'children' she knew from before, Mike, Jessica, Angela, Eric…but there was an addition. She was dark haired, slight, perhaps only a few inches taller than Alice herself. Alice felt time slowing, tunneling around her and this stranger in a small town. The girl turned sideways, showing her profile and Alice gasped, her grip tightening on Jasper's hand. Her physical vision darkened, her extra vision starting to supply her with images at so rapid a pace that her knees buckled, slamming her to the floor. She heard Jasper swear as he tried to get to her before she slammed her head into the tile. Now every eye was on them.

Just before she slipped fully into her visions she whispered at the dim shape that was Jasper's concerned face, "Oh shit, baby. It's her. It's always been her."


	9. That Is Confused

_AN: Sorry for the massive delay, I got overwhelmed with school, work and crafting deadlines. :) I'm going to try to get another chapter done today, though that will depend entirely on my level of inspiration. Hopefully y'all will like this one. If you've got a preference for the subject matter/POV for the next chapter, please let me know. Also, let me know if you've got any opinions about this or the whole story. I do try to take them into account as I write._

_Oh, and these toys totally aren't mine, but their owner is kind enough to let us play with them from time to time. :D_

_**HM**_

**Bella**

Bella rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. The evil red display read 5:45, only thirty minutes since she'd last checked it. She sighed deeply and shifted angrily, trying to find a comfortable position so she could get a bit more sleep before the horrible buzzing started that signaled the start of another day. It was not to be, however. No matter how she moved, she just could not get comfortable; one minute she was freezing cold and had to bundle up in her covers, the next she was burning up, irritatedly kicking the same covers off the foot of her bed. She flopped on to her other side and stared out the window.

'_Why today?_' she asked herself as she took her frustration out on hr pillow. Of all the days to have a bout of insomnia, why did her brain have to pick today, the day of a massive Chem test and her first free afternoon to spend with Jake?

A slight lightening of the sky signaled that her self-induced torture was coming to an end. She sighed again, this time with relief. At least her torture was coming to an end. With a little effort, she sat up and looked out at the gathering light that was both welcome and hated. Since it was her habit to sleep with her window slightly cracked, despite having not done so in Phoenix, she could hear the sound of the ever-present rain filtering through the leaves. For the millionth time in the last year, she cursed Charlie for living here. Why wasn't he like normal people who craved the sun? She had heard that Jamaica was nice; warm and sunny, just like she liked. Even though it was a different palette of green, the photos she'd seen showed that it too was quite green. While she rummaged for something to wear, she entertained herself with thoughts of white sand beaches, crystal blue water, the sun and how to convince Charlie to move.

She'd found a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, a tee to wear over it and was digging in the recesses of the closet for her Chucks when a knock at her bedroom door startled her. With a muffled curse, she popped up, slamming her head into the doorknob, which started a fresh stream of muffled curses. Holding her hand to her now aching head, she tried to reach her bedroom door. Unfortunately, she'd not yet picked up her covers or turned on her overhead light, and the darkness is a clumsy person's worst enemy besides themselves. Her foot got caught and she fell down in a graceless pile. '_Sweet baby Buddha_' she thought, lying on the floor for a moment, '_Is it really going to be one of those days?_'

Her door opened and she looked up at Charlie's concerned face. For a moment, he just looked at her, obviously trying to figure out how she got there. His face split into a grin, "Those Swan genes rearing their ugly head's again, eh Bells?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Dad. There are days when I wonder why I even bother."

He chuckled and stepped into her room, reaching down to lift her up and set her on her feet. Once he was sure she was firmly on her feet, he stepped away, still grinning.

"I just came in to be sure you were up. Today's your Chemistry test, right?"

She sighed and nodded, not even bothering to ask how he knew that, since she knew damn good and well she'd not told him. Another of the thousand hazards of small town life; everyone knew everything about everyone.

He smiled at her again, "I'm sure you'll do great, Bells. We'll go out tomorrow night to the diner to celebrate."

Again she chose not to say anything, deciding to take the offer for what it was; a display of pride and love. They ate at the diner at least once a week, so she was pretty sure that it didn't actually qualify as a special occasion, but whatever made Charlie feel like he was being supportive.

As usual, he took her silence as consent and shrugged, "Alright, I'm out of here, bad guys to stop and all."

She chuckled despite herself and said, "That's right, Dad, go stop the evil jay walkers of Forks."

He looked confused for a moment and then laughed himself. "You know it, baby. Keeping the streets safe from little old ladies is what I do best."

They were both laughing when he headed down the hall to leave and she went back to her closet to search out the elusive Chuck Taylors. They were here somewhere, she just knew it.

*****

An hour later, she'd managed to find her shoes (under her bed, though she didn't remember having worn them, let alone kicked them under her bed), eaten breakfast (cereal, yay, as usual) and gathered up all of her Chemistry notes. They were scattered all over the house, so she gave it serious thought that her notes might have given away her test. She was such a spaz sometimes.

The time came to leave for school and she couldn't shake the restless feeling that had kept her up all night. As she drove, she tried to figure out what the feeling was and what was causing it. It felt, she decided, like a weight in the middle of her chest that made it hard to breathe and made her jumpy at the same time. When she pulled into her traditional parking spot, she still hadn't managed to figure out what was causing it, only that it seemed vaguely familiar. She decided to let it go for now and try to figure it out after she'd made it through her school day.

Her Chem test was just before lunch, something that had long frustrated her. She was the kind of person that needed a full stomach before she could brave difficult subjects like Chemistry. She sighed as she went into class and took her seat next to Angela. Her friend leaned over and whispered, "Have you figured out what to do about your 'problem'?"

She sighed and made a face. Angela was speaking, of course, of her problem deciding if she was going to sleep with Jake. Shaking her head, she started getting out her things, "No, Ang, not yet. It's hard to decide when you go a week without seeing the person, you know?"

Angela nodded and toyed with a pencil for a moment before she went on. "I don't know too much about this subject, Bella. I wish I did so I could help you out."

Jessica, who sat in front of them turned around, "I know what my advice is. He's hot as hell, go for it."

Bella rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Really? Is that the only thing I need to think about? Gee, thanks, Jess, I can rest assured that I make a good choice now."

Jessica shot her a look that should've dropped her where she sat. "Damn it, Bella, don't be such a bitch. I'm just saying that you'll regret it later if you don't. You could end up having to loose your virginity to one of these stellar specimens."

She gestured around the room, and only if you knew her did you notice that she didn't include her lab partner, Mike, in that motion. Bella just shook her head and didn't comment. Sometimes Jessica acted like there was nothing beyond high school, nothing beyond Forks, nothing to life but her tiny concerns. It was annoying, but you learned to live with it, particularly in a town so small that you had to be careful not to loose all your friends at one fell swoop.

Lauren, another girl in their class, leaned across the aisle and whispered something to Jessica, then leaned back, still finding time to shoot Bella an evil look. Bella was used to it now; Lauren hated her for reasons beyond Bella's comprehension. Jessica turned back around so fast that she almost fell off her stool.

"Oh my God!" she said, struggling to keep her voice down to a whisper. "The Cullens are back!"

Angela's face lit up and she asked, "Really?"

Bella wrinkled her forehead. "The Cullens? Who are they? Local rock stars or something?"

Angela laughed, "They might as well be. I always forget that you don't know them. They left town unexpectedly just before you got here."

Jessica slapped her hand on the table, "They are only the most gorgeous people in town. It's really not fair; they make the rest of look like swap trolls."

Angela laughed, "They are really a gorgeous family. There's Doctor Cullen, he works at the hospital, and his wife, Esme. Evidently, they can't have children of their own, they've got five adopted children, three boys and two girls. The kids are dating, only one of their sons is single."

Jessica snorted and waved her hand, "I think it's just a little on the nasty inbred side personally."

Bella tipped her head sideways, "Why Jess? It's not like their actually related, right? Wouldn't that make it like an odd match-making service?"

Jessica snorted, "Two of the boys are related, Emmett and Edward. Jasper and Rosalie are brother and sister also. The last one is Alice, and she's so odd, I'm not surprised she ended up needing to be adopted."

Angela leaned over and smacked Jessica in the arm, hard. "Jessica, that's a terrible thing to say. If anyone in this conversation's a bitch, it's you. Just because they don't socialize with you and Edward turned you down for the Sadie Hawkins doesn't give you the right to be evil."

Jessica blushed and opened her mouth to reply, but the teacher called the class to order before she could speak. Bella waited for her copy of the test and thought idly about this news. It seemed to be a huge deal, not that she was sure why. Her chest had tightened up again, but there was no way it was related to this odd news, it had to be the stack of paper that represented their test making its way to her.

Right?

*****

Bella was drenched with sweat and feeling decidedly wrung out an hour and a half later when the bell rang to send them to lunch. As she gathered her things up, she wished futilely that she could get through life without Chemistry. Angela tucked her arm into Bella's as they made their way from the lab to the cafeteria.

"So, Bella," Angela asked, "Was it as bad for you as it was for me?"

Bella wound through the people in the hall and said exasperatedly, "Absolutely."

Angela laughed, tossing her head back. "Well at least it's over until the end of next semester, right?"

Bella snorted in response, pushing the door open into the cafeteria. Something was off about the energy, like the entire place was balanced on a knife's edge, waiting for something. She made a face, but headed to their normal table without really stopping to think about it. As soon as they had tossed their bags into the pile, she and Angela made their way to the line to get food.

The fare was normal, cheese 'burgers' and fries, and luckily for Bella, it required little to no thought. She filled her tray as she did every day and tried to fight down the intense feeling of nervousness that had suddenly swept over her. They sat back down with their friends, and she picked at her fries, suddenly too overcome with nerves to eat. Mike was regaling the group with another story about giant wolves and she rolled her eyes. He really needed to get some new material, this was getting ridiculous. No amount of him insisting that the hikers that had told him about them were not on some sort of illegal substance would make her believe the wild stories. Angela evidently felt the same way, rolling her eyes in Mike's direction and turning her body so that she was facing Bella.

"So," she asked, dipping a fry in ketchup before shoving it into her mouth, "You said you'd not decided whether or not you were going to sleep with Jake."

Bella nodded, the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach intensifying. "It's just such a big decision, you know? It isn't like I could do it and then get a do-over, you know? Once it's done, it's done."

Angela nodded, "I understand that. It's a big deal, at least to girls it is."

Bella smiled, she was glad that Angela understood. "Yeah, it is. I don't know how Jessica can be in such a hurry, it's a big deal."

She sighed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and started tearing her bun into tiny pieces. "I guess I'd be a bit less worried about it if I wasn't so clumsy, you know? I feel like I'd be in danger of getting pregnant the first time, no matter what I did. I mean, hell," she looked up and caught Angela's eye, a nervous grin on her face. "I can't even walk across an even floor without falling down in a spectacular fashion; I'd be stupid to not be worried about it."

Angela nodded and went to answer, but instead stopped with her mouth open, staring over Bella's shoulder at the door that led to outside. She leaned over and lightly smacked Bella's leg, "Oh my god, they are back. Look, Alice and Jasper.."

Luckily, Angela was too well-bred to point, unlike Jessica, who blatantly pointed behind Bella at the door. Bella rolled her eyes, a blush flooding her cheeks for the strangers that were at the receiving end of that attention. She turned her head slightly to look and felt her jaw start to drop. Luckily, one thing that Renee had drilled home was how to behave in public, how to empathize with the object of your attention, to moderate your reactions in order to take that into account. Bella hated being stared at, so that was easy for her.

Still looking as surreptitiously as possible, she let her mind be amazed. They were gorgeous, no doubt. Alice was tiny, smaller than Bella herself, which was a feat in and of it's self. Her face was decidedly elfin and her hair was very close cropped, like a pixie cut, and stood out artfully in many directions. Her clothes were obviously designer, only expensive jeans fit like that. And the boy… Bella felt her face getting a little hot, staring at what she knew to be someone else's man. But this boy, he was like a work of art. Beautiful face, blonde hair, broad shoulders, and a muscular frame dressed in a beautiful sweater and equally well-fitting jeans. She let her eyes travel back to his face. Something in her twisted a little; he looked like he was miserable. It made him seem more human and less like a fallen angel or walking sculpture. And she felt sorry for him; she knew pain when she saw it. She was about to say something to Angela when the girl looked over at her, her topaz colored eyes falling on Bella's face. Even though she wasn't looking right at them, she saw the girl's eyes widen, and watched, horrified, as something about her own face caused the beautiful girl to crumple to the floor.

Sweet Jesus, it was one of those days, wasn't it?

She wasn't aware that she had moved until she had crossed the distance to where the couple were, the boy holding the girls mostly limp form. There was a hushed silence in the cafeteria, and Bella felt almost like she had crossed into a leper camp by going to help. Some part of her wondered what was wrong with her classmates, they needed help, that much was obvious.

Kneeling carefully next to the couple, she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked up into the eyes of the boy that she knew to be Jasper, and asked, "What can I do to help?"

His eyes locked with hers, and his look of pain intensified. Time seemed to slow as she watched his eyes take on a tortured look, watched his throat move as he swallowed heavily, watched his fingers tighten slightly on Alice's dark blue cashmere sweater, and watched something being weighed behind his golden eyes. Some deep seeded part of Bella realized that she should be terrified, but she wasn't, not a bit. Instead, she held his gaze for a moment and then asked, "Its Jasper, right? What can I do to help Alice?"

The use of their names seemed to shake him a little, he tipped his head sideways and regarded again, whatever was on his mind settled. He smiled and said quietly, "Nothing, she'll come out of it when she's ready."

He had a Southern accent, though she thought that it probably wouldn't be considered heavy anywhere but Forks. She looked down at Alice and then back up at him. "We should move her though, that floor isn't comfortable, trust me."

Jasper looked at her again, intensely this time before he shrugged almost imperceptibly. "That's a good point," he said, reaching under Alice's prone form to pull her easily into his arms. Once he was standing, he looked for an empty table and found one near the window. Something about it made him smile again and he headed towards it without a word to Bella.

She stood for a moment and watched him walk away. How dare he? She was the only one in this room to bother to check on them and this is how he pays her back, by walking off like she didn't exist? Hell no. She hurried after him, careful not to trip, since that would be beyond mortifying. The cafeteria had returned to its normal buzz of conversation, so at least no one was staring any more.

Reaching out, she grabbed his arm, tugging slightly to get his attention. She thought she heard a snarl just before he turned around, though that was illogical and crazy. His eyes were a little crazy and for a moment she thought that they were darker than they had been a moment before. But that was also crazy so she dismissed it as a trick of the light. The almost predatory look was back in his eyes and a lesser person would've backed off. Not Bella. She squared her shoulders and said, "I'm worried about her, are you sure she doesn't need to go to the nurse?"

Jasper's nostrils flared slightly and his mouth opened, but before whatever he was going to say could come out, a pale little hand reached out and touched his arm.

"Jasper, it's ok, she's just worried. I think it's sweet."

Alice was awake.

She popped up easily, wrapping an arm around Jasper and pulling him over to her, effectively placing herself between them. Her tiny face split into a grin as she tugged Jasper towards her. He leaned over and she whispered something into his ear. Bella felt her anger flare until she saw Jasper's eyes light up, a grin splitting his face too. He turned to Bella and held out his hand. "I'm sorry that I behaved like that, please allow me to apologize."

Now she was confused, but she held out her hand. "Sure, sure, Jasper. I know how it was when I first got here."

He took her hand and lifted it to kiss the back of it in a very old-fashioned gesture. Another blush flooded her face, causing Alice to laugh. It was a musical sound, like tinkling bells, and Bella felt herself start to laugh as well. Jasper dropped her hand, a huge grin that made her think of a little boy with his hand in the cookie jar on his face. Alice reached out and touched Bella's arm lightly, and even through her long-sleeved shirt she could feel that the other girl's fingers were like ice. "I'm afraid we don't know your name, you must have moved here after we left."

Bella nodded, feeling as much at ease with Alice as she did with Angela, which was more than she felt with Jessica. "Yeah, I did. My name's Isabella Swan, but everyone calls me Bella."

Alice shot a look at Jasper before she went on. "It is nice to meet you, Bella. You must be the Chief's daughter. I think I remember hearing that you were moving here."

Bella nodded, opening her mouth to answer when the bell rang that ended lunch. She looked at Alice and Jasper with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, my next class is on the far side of the building, I've got to run"

Alice nodded with a big smile and hopped up, folding Bella in a tight hug. "It is alright, Bella. I'll be seeing you again soon. And we'll be great friends, I just know it."

Bella blushed, but instinctively hugged Alice back. "I hope so," she heard herself say, "A girl can never have too many friends."

When Alice released her, she hurried over to get her bag, embarrassed. What had caused her to say that, let alone act that way? As she left the cafeteria, she heard Alice's tinkling laugh again. She was halfway to class before she realized that the tightness in her chest had disappeared.


End file.
